Cyberattack hits major title insurance firm 

First American Financial has become the latest victim in a cyberattack.

The company is the nation's second-largest provider of title insurance. It also provides mortgage-related services, insurance, valuation products and home warranties. 

The details: The company announced the incident in a news release on Dec. 21, noting that it has temporarily taken certain systems, including email, offline and is working to return to normal business operations as soon as possible. The company warned that anyone receiving "an email purporting to be from First American, First American Title or from FirstAm.com should be vigilant about cybersecurity risks and avoid clicking on unknown or suspect links."

On Dec. 22, First American filed a statement with the SEC noting that it was assessing the impact of the incident, adding that the company's primary website may be inaccessible. The company also said it "cannot estimate the duration or extent of the disruption at this time." Updates will be posted on this website. Real Estate News has also reached out to First American for further information.

Not the only one: A series of cyberattacks have hit the real estate industry in recent months, including one that shut down title insurer Fidelity National Financial last month and another that took MLS system provider Rapattoni offline for two weeks in August. The mortgage company Mr. Cooper also reported that customer data was compromised in a cyberattack in November.

Previous breach: First American was hit with a $1 million fine last month by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) for violations stemming from a cybersecurity breach in May 2019.

In a news release, the DFS said it found through an investigation that the company failed to maintain and implement effective risk assessment policies and procedures.