The cyberattack against top mortgage lender LoanDepot compromised data from more than 16 million customers.
The total footprint of the incident was reported in a Securities and Exchange commission filing two weeks after the the breach was reported by the company, which has now pledged free credit monitoring and identity protection services for those impacted.
The company said in a regularoty filing in early January the incident involved “encryption of data,” an indicator of a potential ransomware attack, but hasn’t since confirmed further details around the breach.
Some of the company’s systems were taken offline, leaving customers struggling to get into their accounts or close deals on mortgages. Customer portals were back online by the end of last week, though the recovery for the mortgage lender remains slow.
The incident placed the firm in good company among fellow residential real estate players that have suffered cyberattacks in recent months.
Mortgage lender Mr. Cooper temporarily shut down key systems and stopped customers from making mortgage and loan payments after a major cyberattack in the fall. That breach compromised personal data of more than 14 million customers and resulted in a $25 million hit for the company, partially to cover credit monitoring.
In November, hackers breached Florida-based Fidelity National Financial, prompting delays in closing real estate deals and impacting home sales in places like Chicago, where subsidiary Chicago Title operates. The title company spent a week offline.
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LoanDepot hit by cyberattack
Another title company, First American Financial, endured a cyberattack last month. The Santa Ana-based company needed to shut down its website and several key systems in response.
“Unfortunately, we live in a world where these types of attacks are increasingly frequent and sophisticated, and our industry has not been spared,” LoanDepot CEO Frank Martell said in a statement regarding his company’s incident.
— Holden Walter-Warner