The Growing Risks of Cyber Threats to Businesses & Individuals
As everything becomes digital, the importance of remaining safe in cyberspace is as important as staying safe offline. Banking, shopping and business management are all things that are now done as frequently online as they are in person, meaning it’s vital that cyber threats are combatted to keep users safe in the digital space.
According to the National Crime Agency, the most common cyber threats include hacking, phishing, malicious software and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against websites. Each one of them could be disruptive or dangerous for both businesses and individuals.
How Can You Be At Risk?
Hacking means gaining access to an account by stealing the password or overriding it. For an individual, hacking could mean losing access to a social media account, or even a shopping account that has your bank details stored inside it. And for a business, allowing a hacker access to an account means data breaches can happen, giving them access to data such as customer usernames, passwords, addresses and even sometimes payment details.
Phishing is usually in the form of spam emails which will ask for security information and personal details, either in order to gain access to your accounts or steal your identity. The best way to avoid this in the workplace is to have best practice guidelines in place on how to spot suspicious-looking emails.
Malicious Software
Malicious software, also known as malware, can also significantly disrupt businesses. Ransomware, a type of malware, can lock out a user or organisation from files on their computer, demanding a ransom payment in order for the files to be accessible again.
Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are particularly annoying because they essentially stop your website from being accessible for customers by flooding the site with traffic and overwhelming it until it stops working. If you’re an online shop, this means you won’t be able to make any sales until the problem is fixed. This is usually coupled with extortion, where whoever’s behind the attack will hold that site to ransom to stop the attack.And not only do many cyber threats exist, but they’re increasing too. With remote working becoming the norm, technology being used in almost every work sector, and automation becoming increasingly popular, this means the risk of attack rises.
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Combat the Risk of Cyber Attacks
To combat the increasing risk of cyber threats like these, which can be significantly disruptive and costly for your business, specific cyber insurance can cover you. Also known as cyber risk or cyber liability insurance, it can cover a business’s liability for a data breach as well as things like the cost of investigating a cybercrime, loss of income from a business shutdown, recovering lost data from a breach, and sometimes even extortion payments demanded by hackers.
If you’re a business that operates a lot through digital means, it’s important to have some sort of cover to protect you from the very real cyber threats that do exist, as general liability insurance would only cover you for injuries and property damage resulting from your products or services, and wouldn’t cover anything in the digital sphere.
It’s easy to be complacent when it comes to cyber attacks, but even the most secure and comprehensive systems could be vulnerable to an attack. And the cost of cyber attacks isn’t insignificant either, with it being predicted that cybercrime could cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. By taking out cyber insurance with Dover Street Insurance Brokers, you can make sure your money isn’t part of that statistic. You can give us a call today on 0208 057 4130 where we can discuss with you what cover we can provide for you and your business.