Cyber crime used to be something that only sci-fi authors imagined, but it has become a reality and is sadly ubiquitous in today’s modern times. Let’s be clear. Cyber crime is a business issue and not a technology issue. You don’t need to understand the technology to understand the business issues that Cyber crime can bring. The impacts can be many and variable but amongst others:
- Loss of reputation
- Damage to tangible and intangible assets
- Financial Costs either from third parties against you or your own costs in dealing with the damage
- Legal and Regulatory exposure
The value of confidential information is rising. Once the concern of only big companies, many SME’s are finding themselves an attractive proposition for hackers and cyber criminals. Empirical evidence suggests that over 40% of SME’s admit to some kind of breach. Just think of those that don’t want to admit a data breach or possibly worse don’t even know.
If you own or manage a business, you have to be aware of how cyber crime can impact your business. Scenarios are not difficult to think about – loss of a laptop, paper records , an issue with a third party outsourced supplier or hacked systems .Specifically, cyber criminals can:
Steal your company’s information
More likely than not, you have sensitive business data that you don’t want anybody to know about. Pending patents, new inventions, even just a marketing strategy for your latest products — this information, when they fall into the wrong hands, can make you lose your competitive edge and maybe even put your company in jeopardy.
Unfortunately, cyber criminals can make these scenarios happen. Once they get into your system, they’ll have access to all your information, which they can release to the public or sell to your competitors. They may also blackmail you and won’t give back your sensitive data unless you pay a huge ransom.
Steal your customers’ information
Your customers trust that you can keep their names, addresses, and credit card details safe and sound. So what happens when cyber criminals get hold of these info? They can steal your customers’ identity and put them through a lot of hassle, but they’ll also show the world that your business isn’t capable of keeping client information safe. This, in turn, can cause your customers to lose faith in you and make them less likely to trust you, which means you’ll suffer from a damaged reputation and have less sales and profits.
Prevent your customers from accessing your website
It might sound like a harmless prank, but think for a moment about what would happen if your website gets shut down by cyber criminals. Your customers would try to access your site to buy a product or service, but they couldn’t go through no matter how many times they hit the “enter” button. Eventually, they’d head over to your competitors’ website, where they could easily buy what they need. This “harmless prank” can cause you to lose thousands of pounds in sales, especially when you don’t solve the problem right away. It can also damage your reputation and discourage customers from buying from you in the future.
All of these might sound depressing, but don’t worry since you can take steps to protect your business. One of these is to get insurance protection that is specially designed to help you deal with cyber crime. Here at Anthony Jones, we help our customers choose the right cyber crime insurance that not only fits their budget but also matches their specific needs.
Typically, we will look to meet the following claims made against you for:
- Internet/e mail libel , breaches of confidentiality or intellectual property or copyright
- Virus / malware transimission
- Loss of data or misuse of data
Typically, we will look to provide for you:
- Costs incurred in repairing / replacing /restoring computer records
- Loss of revenue due to disruption and /or losses as a result if third parties stealing your money including employees
- Ransom demands and extortion costs
- Crisis containment and brand protection
- Notification costs to consumers
- Liability and defence costs for claims arising out of breaches in data security and privacy
- Forensic investigation costs of a breach
So think about managing risk, addressing first- party and third party risks associated with e-business, the internet , networks and informational assets. Or don’t… but it is a very expensive and onerous game of catch up to play if you have to.
