Cyber Insurance

What Is Cyber Insurance?

Cyber insurance, also known as cyber risk or cyber liability insurance, is available to provide specialist support and financial protection in the event that your business suffers from a cyber crime. If you handle sensitive data internally or via the internet, manage a website, have employees that use computers, own valuable intellectual property or send email communications then you could be vulnerable to cyber crime attacks.

Cyber crime stands for illegal activity undertaken online with the intent of achieving financial gain which ultimately costs tens of thousands of pounds for small businesses and hundreds of thousands of pounds for larger companies. The cyber criminals behind the destruction often try to steal private documents, payment information and login details through various means including malware, hacking, physical theft, exhortation and phishing scams.

We would recommend that you get in touch with our team if you want to protect your business from the financial threat of cyber crime. We can build a tailored policy around your requirements which is affordable, comprehensive and backed by leading insurers.

Cyber Crime Explained

There are various methods of cyber crime which online criminals use to cause disruption and steal valuable income anonymously. This includes the following methods:

• Hacking - Hackers may force their way into your devices or online accounts to steal private details and disrupt your access.
• Identity Theft - Attempts could be made to compromise details about you, your employees or customers and even passwords for your business banking, enabling the attackers to steal sums of money or sell the information on.
• Scamming - Someone may offer a service or product to you such as IT services which you do not need. They will then charge you for this which is illegal. You may also be sold products by a scammer who never sends you the goods.
• Viruses - A peace of malicious software could be installed unintentionally throughout your network in order to steal data, track keyboard presses and destroy files.
• Ransomware - Documents stored electronically throughout your company can be encrypted by a third party and your access revoked, followed by requests for a ransom payment to unlock them.
• Spamming - Dangerous spam emails are exposed to employees on a daily basis which can contain viruses and links to malicious websites, ultimately trying to deceive people.
• Phishing - Large quantities of spam emails are sent from fake addresses acting as legitimate companies to gather login details for high profile websites. They often contain spoof website links and insist on money transfers.
• Scareware - Misleads people into downloading bogus anti-virus software after making false allegations that you need to 'remove a threat' which never existed. Once installed, it infects the users PC with damaging spyware.
• Stolen IP - Unique intellectual property you own such as unique ideas, designs, product specs, trade secrets, processes and strategies could be stolen. This could be followed by blackmail threats to disclose the IP if extortion demands are not met.
• Espionage - A rival could access inside information about your company to gain competitive edge regarding a specific product or advertising campaign you are working on. Resulting in reduced income, increased competition and higher production costs.

Types of Cyber Insurance Cover

Cyber insurance can cover first party cyber risks which protects the financial loss aspect to your business when an insured event such as damage to data, downtime, ransom payments and theft occurs. Third party risks can also be built into your policy to cover specialist assistance to investigate an attack, any legal costs to defend a claim and data protection fines.

First-Party Insurance

This type of cover can be purchased as a single product or in conjunction with third party cyber insurance to include:

• Repairs to damaged devices and restoration of lost software or data.
• Business interruption in the event that you cannot operate after a cyber event.
• Threats to release information if payment demands are not fulfilled.
• Loss or damage to the electronic files stored on your systems.
• Costs to notify anyone that is directly affected by a data breach.
• The negative impact on your reputation leading to loss of future revenue.
• Stolen money and equipment either physically or electronically.

Third-Party Insurance

Third party cyber insurance can be built into your package alongside first party cover or can be purchased on its own to defend against:

• Defence costs in the event that you are sued for failing to prevent a data breach.
• Compensation damages and fines after personal details are exposed.
• Specialist consultants to help you manage and recover from an attack.
• Loss of data belonging to someone else or another company.
• Unintentional transmission of a virus leading to an infection.

Preventative Measures

Unfortunately, the threat remains online because it's lucrative for criminals and unlike your business, requires minimal investment. Here are a few best practises we would recommend:

• Rolling out a commercial grade firewall across your network.
• Installing anti-virus on any devices that have internet connectivity.
• Backing up critical data on a weekly basis.
• Password protect any portable devices such as laptops, memory sticks and smartphones.
• Be PCI DSS compliant when taking card payments.
• Invest in cyber security training events for your employees.
• Undergo thorough risk assessments to plug any potential gaps.

With cyber crime on the rise, we also believe it's vital that you source adequate cover to defend yourself against financial disaster. It's not a secret that some of the biggest companies in the world have suffered recent attacks, risking the privacy of their customer details and paying hefty costs out of their own pockets. For any assistance and reassurance, call our team who will talk through your needs and set you up with a suitable policy which is affordable and reliable, for peace of mind if you need to make a claim.