Cyber and Ransomware attacks are on the increase

6/11/2021 12:00:00 AM

As our dependence on technology grows, it is more critical than ever to ensure that you have cyber and data protection in place, to protect yourself from digital crimes. Criminal activity is varied, and can have a massive impact on your business, the individuals you support and their families. We recently received some updates from cyber protection specialists, CFC Underwriters, who we work closely with, which highlighted some alarming facts*:

70% of cyber-attacks affect businesses with under £50M turnover
Over 75% of cyber claims occur because of some form of human/employee error (employees clicking malicious links, losing devices or transferring funds)
The estimated recovery time for a business which experiences a ransomware event is 2-3 months, without expert assistance
Ransomware attacks accounted for 31% of CFC claims by frequency in the last 12 months, but these events accounted for 73% of what was paid out, making them disproportionately severe
You are now 9 times more likely to be a victim of a cyber-attack than a fire
Cyber policies have the highest claims acceptance rate of any other line of insurance, at 99% (ABI, 2019)

Cyber-attacks targeting mobile devices

Last year, cyber-attacks on mobile devices rose by 50% in the first half of the year and it’s not just Android devices that are coming under attack. Evidence suggests that attacks on iPhones are hitting a new high, with over 1.5 million campaigns targeting iOS and Mac devices.

Because the use of technology in our everyday lives has increased, criminals can now access information and data like never before. It is important that you to take steps to protect your organisation from cyber-attacks and stay safe online. Some areas that we would recommend you consider are:

Investing in antivirus software
Always locking screens when away from desk
Two-factor identification systems
Limit the sharing of information
Use complex passwords; a phrase or statement is best
Request password changes regularly

Cyber-crime in the news

The cyber insurance market is seeing notable rate increases for the first time, due to the impact of increasingly frequent and sophisticated ransomware attacks and cyber extortion claims. With high-profile global ransomware attacks reported in the news this year, the importance of covering your business against cyber and data breaches is becoming clear.

Although recent news stories, relaying the impact of cyber-crime relate to big, global businesses, it’s worth noting that they had almost unlimited resources at their hands, yet still suffered significant impacts, highlighting the issues around cyber protection and the importance of getting it right with your own internal checks and balances. An insurance policy should also be considered an integral part of your overall protection approach; in the event of such a breach, there will be support to cover the costs attached and rectify damage to systems and potentially other issues that may have been affected by such an event.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-57318965

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57178503

Many businesses assume that they transfer their liabilities and risk when their data is in a cloud provider’s hands. In most cases, this is not the position and there is little protection in terms of liability with your cloud providers. In July 2020, The National Trust issued a data breach alert, after cloud computing service Blackbaud was attacked. This cyber-attack also affected charities such as Sue Ryder and Young Minds, as well as dozens of Universities. You can read about this attack here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53567699

Insurance protections

Cyber insurance can help protect your business against a range of cyber threats and exposures, including cybercrime, data breaches and system interruption. Top activity areas for cyber-criminals include:

Ransomware
Phishing
Data leakage
Hacking
Insider threat

Cover can now be purchased to protect against GDPR, as part of a cyber protection policy.

How at risk are you?

To find out your organisations level of cyber risk, complete this quick cyber risk assessment.

We believe cyber protection is now one of the most important and critical covers that should be considered as part of your overall insurance programme, and are pro-actively looking at obtaining indicative terms to share with you, for consideration.

We work with specialists in the insurance and risk management sectors, to ensure we have a variety of products to offer the care sector, to assist your business when it needs it most. Your dedicated Towergate representative will be in touch shortly, to discuss your cyber requirements.

*CFC Underwriting 2021

https://www.zdnet.com/article/mobile-malware-attacks-are-booming-in-2019-these-are-the-most-common-threats/

Cyber insurance from Towergate

Towergate are actively engaging with insurers and our clients to obtain cyber protection for businesses of all sizes, to protect against the very real and growing threats of the digital age. We can offer cyber insurance for businesses to help protect you should the worst happen.

Get a cyber insurance quote online.

About the author

Mark Brannon Cert CII is a respected industry leader with over 17 years’ industry experience in a variety of roles within the business insurance sector. He works across a wide spectrum of insurance product and policy development, delivery and optimisation for clients, including claims, insurer relationships, marketing and communications, and risk management.