The growing threat of a cyber attack

As we become increasingly reliant on technology, the potential impact of cyber-related incidents continues to grow. Yet the cyber insurance market is relatively new in comparison to other lines of cover.

So, what do we mean when we talk about cyber risk & what do you need to do to protect your business against this growing threat?

Claims can come in a myriad of ways: a privacy breach, a malicious online attack, a total system failure, financial crime, fraudulent money transfers and more. Often the most costly part of a cyber event is responding to the incident. For example, if an attack has managed to compromise a company’s computer network, then IT specialists need to be summoned to stop the attack, protect against further immediate threats, and work out what has been stolen.

There are a few questions you should ask….

• What impact will this have on your business?

• What would happen if you have no access to your IT?

• What financial contingency do you have in place in the event of a cyber incident?

• Could your bottom line sustain such costs when the average cyber costs are anything from £30k?

We have launched our new cyber breach and liability insurance solution: www.ascendbrokingold.co.uk/cyber-data-insurance and have produced a simple guide which provides an overview of the cover and risk management assistance that is available.

Cyber Data Breach Facts

• 72 hours The time in which you have to notify the ICO of a data breach.

• 100% You have to notify 100% of all data sources pertaining to that breach.

• 15% of all crises claims were related to cyber extortion in 2019.

• 47% of UK businesses wrongly believe traditional insurance covers cyber crime.

• 39% of UK businesses identified data breach or cyber hacking as their greatest concern in 2019.

• 23,500 cyber incidents were dealt with by CyberScout, the identity management and data risk specialists.

• 89% of these involved financial crimes.

• 96% of losses are first party (your own)

VISIT OUR NEW CYBER BREACH & INSURANCE WEBSITE

A cyber insurance policy will cover:

• Incident response/forensics

• Theft of funds

• Damage to digital assets

• Theft of data

• Cyber extortion

• System damage

• System business interruption

It is impossible to be 100% secure & prevent cyber-attacks entirely. The important thing is knowing what to do when attacked and how to mitigate any impact. Insuring against a cyber-attack costs little compared to the cost of dealing with an incident if unprotected.