LMG introduces ‘industry-first’ cyber coach

Bennett’s role will extend across Australia and New Zealand in information management, according to the aggregator.

Prior to this appointment, Bennett has worked on the “lender-side” as an information security analyst at Kiwibank and most recently partnered with private companies to de-risk data handling and information systems.

Luke Jarmaine, LMG’s chief information & security officer, said: “Security is one of our top priorities.

“Laura will be tasked with supporting businesses in executing best practice cyber security, providing them with greater confidence in their everyday activities, especially dealing with sharing and storing sensitive data and information.

“We have invested significantly into cutting-edge technology to secure our platforms against the cyber threats posed by hackers, scammers and other malicious actors.”

According to Jarmaine, this latest appointment is part of an initiative to create more “resilient digital workplace for its brokers” through providing them with more confidence in their dealings with customers and lenders.

“As a group, we’ve achieved the ISO27001:2022 certification and assessed up to the SOC2 Type 2 standard which demonstrates our commitment to embedding security and privacy controls into platforms and our organisation,” Jarmaine said.

“Laura will lead the education of our network – supported by the on-the-ground business support specialists – and adoption of risk-management practices so our businesses feel and act safer in a rapidly evolving environment.”

Lender held to ransom

The aggregator’s pursuit in combatting cyber threats comes as non-bank lender Firstmac was recently held to ransom in early May.

The lender first reported a “cyber incident” in April, in which an unauthorised third party accessed its IT system.

A ransomware gang by the name of EMBARGO took responsibility for the hack, claiming it had stolen over 500 gigabytes of data, including “full databases, source codes, [and] sensitive customer data”.

The group allegedly leaked a data package of over 500 gigabytes on 9 May after Firstmac refused to pay the ransom demand a day earlier.

Firstmac said that there had been no operational impact on business operations and that its systems were “secure”, with business continuing “as per normal” after “urgently investigating” the nature and extent of the data published on 10 May.

[RELATED: What should brokers do following Firstmac hack?]