These days, most people are familiar with the concept of cybercrime – and small wonder. With cyber attack types ranging from phishing scams to ransomware – and new kinds of attack emerging all the time – it’s rarely out of the news.
Even so, given the media’s tendency to focus on high profile cases – the hack at Sony Pictures, or the data breach that saw up to 60,000 Pizza Hut customers’ details stolen and £1m frauds to stolen cards from a large Hotel chain – it’s easy to think it’s a problem for big business.
That is simply not true. For businesses of all shapes and sizes, the risks posed by cyber related incidents are real. Whether it is a direct hack, virus transmission, or denial of service attack, cyber-attached are having a devastating impact on all types of businesses, some resulting in data theft, invoice fraud, loss of revenue, and ransomware demands. With the risks getting more diverse and sophisticated, now is the time to think seriously about taking out specialist insurance cover.
Here are 5 reasons to take a close look at cyber insurance:
- It COULD happen to you: The truth is cyber crime is an issue for all businesses. As far back as 2015, it was already a huge problem for SMEs – by then 74% had experienced security breaches[1}. Many Cyber security professionals state its not if it happens to any business, it is when.
- The financial consequences can be huge: In 2015, SMEs affected by cyber-crime incurred costs of between £75,000 and £311,000[1}, and cyber-crime in general cost the global economy an £270 billion each year and is estimated to reach over £1trillion in 2019 On top of that, the EU General Data Protection Regulation Directive – which will be enforced in May 2018 – will bring in huge potential fines and penalties in relation to firms falling victim of a data breach.
- Traditional insurance is no protection: Valuable data lost to cyber-crime won’t be covered under standard business insurance policies. Nor will the costs associated with cleaning up afterwards – hiring forensic specialists to find out what went wrong, the cost of notifying affected customers, Similarly, standard business interruption insurance won’t necessarily cover business disruption due to a cyber related incident.
- The criminals are always one step ahead: Cyber-crime is, unfortunately, at the very cutting edge of technology, so every time a new attack type emerges – remember WannaCry and Petya? – the IT security industry has to catch up. That means the threat of attack is ever-present and even the very best cyber risk management and IT security cannot guarantee your systems will be safe and secure.
- Taking out cyber Insurance cover can help you assess and manage cyber risk: For instance, at Ashley Page, we’ll help you find tailored cover, which means first understanding your risks and your risk exposures and helping you to manage them. As part of that process, we can arrange for a network penetration test to identify your vulnerabilities and routes hackers could use to gain access to your network. Building with you a Health & Safety Policy around your IT Infrastructure to help precent you falling a victim of a Cyber related attack.
For more information about cyber risk and cyber liability insurance, contact our specialists, or read about cyber liability cover from Ashley Page here.
[1] Information security breaches survey 2015, Department for Business and Skills, 2015