Hackers make their living from targeting businesses and individuals, and the simplest action – the click of an email link, emailing data to the wrong person, leaving a USB stick/laptop somewhere – can give hackers all they need to access a system and clean it out.
Data is now one of the most valuable assets to steal, and whether human error or malicious circumstances, accidents and breaches will happen. It is inevitable, but the important thing is to minimise the damage. Data breaches can result in considerable fines, and worse still, significant reputational damage.
With the majority of UK businesses relying on information technology the threat of cybercrime is a growing concern, and a traditional commercial business insurance policy is unlikely to protect you from your exposure to risks of cybercrime.
Cyber Insurance policies can provide businesses with protection from cyber threats including:
– Restoring corrupt systems and networks and costs incurred due to prevention of access resulting from a cyber incident.
– Financial loss resulting from fraudulent input or change in data leading to dishonest money & credit transactions.
– Damages and defence costs from claims made against the Insured for failure to secure data, unintentional transmission of a virus and reputational damage from emails or distributed content.
– Costs of investigating data breaches and notifying customers including legal advice, PR and crisis management.
– Loss of income following a cyber event or loss of access.
The UK Government have noted the increased threat of cybercrime and have introduced guidance for business (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cyber-security-guidance-for-business) including the Cyber Essentials Scheme, a basic security standard to help organisations protect themselves.
As a small business, you might think you are too small to be targeted. However, with less security in place a smaller business is often an easier target and may provide a hacker with access to larger clients, suppliers, or a database full of customers