What happened
In early 2019 the ASX-listed property valuer LandMark White disclosed that roughly 137,500 valuation records — containing personal contact details of borrowers and property owners — had been exposed, and the data later appeared on a dark-web forum [lmw-itnews]. LMW said the data was accessed via what it described as “an exposed programming interface on one of our valuation platforms” [lmw-itwire]. The breach cost the company around A$7 million [lmw-itnews].
NSW Police later arrested and charged a man in connection with the breach, and a second IT contractor was charged in July 2020; the charges are allegations and no court outcome has been confirmed [lmw-bna], [lmw-itnews-charges].
Timeline
- 2019-02 — LMW disclosed the exposure of valuation data [lmw-itwire].
- 2019-05 — LMW reported the breach had cost it about A$7 million; data had reappeared on the dark web [lmw-itnews].
- 2019-10 — NSW Police arrested and charged a man in connection with the breach [lmw-bna].
- 2020-07 — A second IT contractor was charged [lmw-itnews-charges].
Current status
Before the courts. Criminal charges were laid in 2019 and 2020; they remain allegations and no outcome has been verified. No privacy-regulator action has been reported. The 137,500 figure is a count of valuation records, not people, so no count of individuals is asserted here.
Why it matters
Property valuations quietly concentrate borrowers’ personal and financial context; the incident shows how an exposed interface can leak data at scale, with real commercial and legal fallout.