Robison & Co

Cyber Insurance

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Safeguard Your Business in the Digital Age: Navigating Cyber Threats and Protecting Your Future

Safeguard Your Business in the Digital Age: Navigating Cyber Threats and Protecting Your Future

In today’s interconnected world, it’s never been more important to safeguard your business. The digital landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, offering boundless opportunities for growth and innovation. However, alongside these advancements comes an alarming increase in cyber threats, presenting significant risks to businesses of all sizes.

Understanding the Cyber Threat Landscape to Safeguard Your Business

Recent reports underscore the severity of the situation. Studies reveal a substantial surge in cyber-attacks, affecting organizations across various sectors. No longer confined to large corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are equally vulnerable targets. Moreover, phishing scams, email impersonation, and malware are among the most prevalent tactics employed by cybercriminals, posing a significant threat to business operations and data security.

The Impact of Cyber on Your Business

The repercussions of a cyber-attack extend far beyond mere financial costs. Not only can the immediate financial burden be substantial, but the long-term consequences can be even more severe. Additionally, a cyber-attack can tarnish your business’s reputation, disrupt operations, and, in extreme cases, threaten its very existence.

Safeguard Your Business: Simple Steps for Cybersecurity

Firstly, assess your risks: Regularly evaluate your cybersecurity risks and prioritize addressing vulnerabilities in your systems and processes. Understanding your unique risk profile is essential in developing an effective cybersecurity strategy.

Secondly, secure access: Implement multi-factor authentication and strict access controls to prevent unauthorized entry to your critical systems and data. Strong authentication measures are fundamental in thwarting cyber threats.

Next, enhance network security: Deploy robust network security measures, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and encryption protocols, to protect your network from malicious activity. Furthermore, regularly monitor network traffic for suspicious activity and anomalies.

Additionally, protect your data: Encrypt sensitive information both at rest and in transit to prevent unauthorized access or interception. Implement data loss prevention solutions to monitor and control the movement of sensitive data within your organization.

Moreover, prepare for incidents: Develop and test response plans for security incidents to ensure a swift and coordinated response in the event of an attack. Establish clear procedures for incident detection, containment, eradication, and recovery.

Also, educate your employees: Provide comprehensive cybersecurity training to all employees to raise awareness about common threats and promote good cyber hygiene practices. Employees are often the first line of defense against cyber-attacks.

Finally, conduct regular audits: Conduct frequent security audits to assess the effectiveness of your cybersecurity controls and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards. Identify any gaps or deficiencies in your security posture and take corrective action promptly.

The rise in cyber threats underscores the critical importance of preparedness. By adopting robust cybersecurity practices and investing in comprehensive cyber insurance, you can navigate the digital landscape with confidence. Remember, the best defence is a proactive offense. Don’t wait until it’s too late to safeguard your business – act NOW.

To discuss a new policy, or current policy  please get in touch with us via one of the options below!

Book a call        01730 265500        Contact request form        hello@robison.co.uk

 

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Managing cyber risks to protect your business

In recent years cyber attacks have emerged as one of the most significant threats facing organisations of all sizes.

A recent survey conducted by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport as part of the National Cyber Security Programme, found that over 40% of businesses have reported a cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months, and these are just the ones that were reported!

With 98% of businesses dependent on some form of digital communication or technology, be that email, web-based platforms, social media or online banking, it’s important that business managers have a cyber risk management procedure in place and cyber insurance to recoup losses in the event of a data breach.

Why is cyber security so important?

In this modern world of continual IT advancement and increased dependency on the internet, cyber security should be a vital aspect of risk management for the majority of businesses, yet statistics show that while 75% of businesses rank cyber security as a high priority, less than 30% currently have formal cyber security policies in place.

By investing in appropriate cyber security measures for your business, you will:

• Protect customer and consumer data
• Prevent fraud or theft
• Protect your organisation’s reputation
• Protect intellectual property and other assets
• Prevent business interruption
• Comply with laws and regulations
• Protect your IT systems from viruses

What could be the impact of a cyber security breach?

The average cost of a cyber security breach for businesses is £3,100, with this cost including new cyber security breach measures to prevent recurrence, legal fees and downtime where employees are unable to get on with their daily activities. However, the financial impact of a cyber security breach is just the beginning; indirect costs such as reputational damage and loss of customers also need to be considered.

What factors contribute to my cyber security risk?

The truth is, any business (big or small) could be a victim of a cyber attack, but there are certain factors that can increase your cyber security risk.
Storing personal data is the big one. If your business holds any personal data on customers, employees or patients, you are more likely to be the target of a cyber attack. Personal data thefts were the highest ever in 2017, with almost 175,000 cases recorded – a 125% increase compared with 10 years ago*. With big names such as British Airways hitting the headlines for data breaches in 2018, it just shows that no business is safe, and we could see these 2017 figures on the rise.

Other factors that could increase your risk of a cyber attack include allowing employees to use their own devices for work purposes and using externally hosted web services to host websites, email or transfer and store data.

Why does my business need cyber insurance?

Even with the proper cyber security measures in place, cyber attacks are getting more and more sophisticated and when you consider the potential costs and losses your business could incur from a cyber attack, a cyber insurance policy will provide you with the peace of mind that your business and customers would be protected in the event of a cyber breach.

Investing in a cyber insurance policy will protect your business from the costs relating to:

Privacy breach – depending on what kind of cyber insurance policy you have, (First Party Coverage or Third Party Liability) this could cover costs arising from dealing with a security breach, such as notifying customers, privacy infringement claims and associated legal costs.

Third Party Liability is essential to businesses that hold large quantities of personal data and covers claims against your business by people who have been impacted by a data breach, e.g. if a customer sues your businesses for negligence after their personal data is lost or stolen.

First Party Coverage covers losses sustained by your business directly, including damage to your electronic data and systems.

Cyber extortion – a cyber insurance policy could cover you in the event that your organisation is infected by ransomware, or any other malicious software that attempts to seize control of or withhold access to your business-critical systems until a fee is paid.

Digital asset replacement – in the event that your organisation’s digital assets are lost or corrupted as a result of cyber crime.
Business interruption – if your business experiences a cyber attack that disrupts business operations, your cyber insurance policy may cover your loss of income during the interruption.

Media liability – in the event that a libel, slander, defamation or infringement of intellectual property rights claim is made as a result of your digital media presence.

Forensic support – gives your organisation 24/7 support from cyber-specialists following a hack or breach.

Reputational damage – your cyber insurance policy may recoup lost profits directly attributed to a cyber attack.

Management liability – your cyber insurance policy may cover costs associated with defending senior management following a cyber attack.
With the potential damage and cost to businesses being so high, business owners should look closely at the procedures they have in place to boost their organisation’s cyber security.

Robison & Co Insurance Brokers are specialists in cyber risk management, providing robust cyber insurance policies to protect your business in the event of a cyber attack or data breach.

For a free audit on your existing cyber insurance policy, or to discuss taking out a new cyber insurance policy, contact Robison & Co on 01730 265500. We’d be happy to discuss your requirements to ensure you’re getting the right level of cover for your business.

If you’d like to asses your cyber risks, why not download our Cyber Risks Exposure Scorecard

Sources:
2018 Cyber Security Breaches Survey commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport as part of the National Cyber Security Programme.
*Statistics from Cifas, the UK’s leading fraud prevention service

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Is Your Business Protected Against Cyber-Attacks?

The worldwide WannaCry cyber-attack wreaked havoc, spreading rapidly to infect 230,000 organisations in 150 countries. The impact was significant and costly, and has led many businesses to question what more they can do to protect their data.

From an IT perspective, there are many steps an organisation can take to protect itself from cyber-attacks, but should the worst happen, there is one safeguard that is often overlooked. At Robison & Co, we have received a number of enquiries since the attack, regarding a relatively new type of insurance policy pertaining specifically to cyber insurance, which offers protection from the costs relating to damage to or loss of information from IT systems and networks.

Simon Gubbins, Managing Director at Robison said: “Regardless of the size of your business, your IT infrastructure is the backbone of daily operations and if something goes wrong, you could be exposed to large losses in income, reputational damage and expensive staff downtime. While existing policies such as professional indemnity insurance exist and may provide some elements of cover against cyber risks, we’ve found that increasingly businesses are choosing to take out specialised cyber insurance policies.”

Cyber risk policies fall into first party and third party risks and businesses can choose a policy that covers either or both. First party covers loss of or damage to digital assets, business interruption, ransomware attacks, theft of money and reputational damage. Third party policies cover the assets of your customers, including loss of data and security and privacy breaches.

However, although a robust cyber insurance policy will help your business survive an attack, it is not a panacea and prevention begins with understanding and managing the risks as part of your everyday business culture and process. To this end, there are many precautions organisations should implement to minimise the risk of ransomware entering your network:

• Enrol on the Government’s Cyber Essentials Scheme. This scheme provides a framework of steps to protect your business and awards Cyber Essentials certification, offering assurance and peace of mind to your customers.

• Update your network security.

• Run the Windows security update released by Microsoft in March and turn on auto-updates, if available.

• Install and regularly update anti-virus as well as anti-malware software on your organisation’s computers.

• Provide your employees with basic cyber security training or guidance. This should include advice on how to recognise a cyber-attack and phishing email scams.

• Back up your documents regularly onto a separate drive.

• Ensure cyber-attacks are provided for in your Disaster Recovery plans, and consider comprehensive cyber insurance to ensure that your organisation can survive a cyber-attack.

To find out how exposed your organisation is to cyber-attacks, download our Cyber Risk Exposure Scorecard

For further information see our Technology Insurance services. For a free audit on your existing policy, or to discuss taking out a cyber insurance policy, contact Robison & Co on (0)1730 265500. We’d be happy to discuss your requirements to ensure you’re getting the right level of cover for your business.