Are you covered for Cyber Crime?

A Government statistic from 2014 estimated that 81% of large companies and 60% of small businesses suffered a data breach. The cost can range from £600,000 to £1.15m for large businesses and £65,000 to £115,000 for smaller ones. Cybercrime is no small problem

Simon Calderbank, senior underwriter, IT at HCC recently said  “ cyber criminals don’t care what size a firm is. Hacking into a large firm can take ages so we’re seeing more cases where the cyber criminals target their suppliers instead. As their security may not be so robust, it can be a much easier way to get hold of the same data.”

Even something as simple as human error can still be costly. A laptop left on a train or emailing data to the wrong person can result in significant penalties under the Data Protection Act, and with the European Parliament set to change the EU Data Protection Regulation by 2017 planning ahead for your business is a must.

The main types of cyber crime are

Virus/malicious software infection

Ransomware

Phishing

Denial of service attacks

Unauthorised network access by outsiders/employees

Intellectual property/confidential theft

The term "Personal Data" is bandied around but how many of us know what it actually means? Personal Data is the data from which you can identify a living individual. The threshold for a breach in this area is pretty low. For example an employee’s email address contains the employee’s name and where they work. A look through the company’s website might say how long the employee’s has worked at the company and what their role is, making this ‘Personal Data”

So what can you do?

Get a risk management policy in place. Ring us 01494 450 450 as we can help you with that. We can take you through a simple cyber liability policy, which should cover you for first and third party liability as well as giving you access to various benefits.

Top Tips to reduce your cyber risk:

1. Network Security - Protect your networks against external and internal attack
2. Get Malware Protection
3. Establish a monitoring strategy
4. Education and awareness training
5. Create a home and mobile policy
6. Ensure continual secure configuration
7. Have a policy for all removable media
8. Manage user privileges
9. Set up and test an incident response and disaster recover policy.

Source: GCHQ

So, if your business

holds sensitive customer data such as names, addresses or banking information

is reliant on computer systems to conduct your business

has a business website

is subject to a payment card industry (PCI) merchant agreement
 
Your might need insurance protection so please give us a call on 01494 450 450 and we will be very happy to come and have a chat with you to discuss your options and what kind of cover would best suit you.

Finally this is worth checking just in case you think you are covered here are some common misconceptions which will mean you will NOT have adequate cyber cover:

1. Professional indemnity and liability policies may include a degree of 3rd party cyber liability cover but usually will not cover your own costs.
2. Business interruption insurance does not provide cover for non physical damage.

As a business you can also get help from the government run scheme Cyber Essentials Certification which encourages best practice.