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Cyber Crime – should you worry?

CRIMINAL activity using computers and the Internet is a growing threat for all of us. Data breach, viruses, hacking, denial of service attacks and cyber extortion are becoming much more common. This however is not limited to a few larger high profile names with an upwards trend in Cyber Crime for smaller enterprises and individuals

Cyber Crime in Numbers (2014 – Internet Security Report – Symantec, McAfee)

* £300 Billion Annual Cost To the Worldwide Economy

* 312 Major Breaches, up 23% Year on Year

* 30% Increase in Phishing Attacks on Smaller Enterprises to gain personal information

* 348 Million Identities Stolen

* 317 Million New Malware Programmes

The Office for National Statistics has estimated that in the year to June 2015 in England and Wales there were around 5.1 million cases of online fraud and 2.5 million “computer misuse’ incidents. These include virus infection, email or social media accounts being hacked and other attacks.

Against this background, pressure from customers as well as upcoming Data Protection reforms will place an added responsibility on business owners and managers to store information about employees and others securely. As well as direct financial costs of investigation, fines, compensation and ransom payments, any Data Breach could have serious reputational consequences. This is evident in the recent high profile Talk Talk hacking incident and subsequent drop in share value.

These emerging risks should be viewed in the same way as other serious operational loss exposures. Major corporations are assigning significant funds to this task. Smaller business owners without dedicated IT management resource should consider what can be done to minimise risk.

A good starting point would be to understand your data. How much of this is business critical, redundant, obsolete or trivial. Is there any unknown or dark data lurking out of sight? Could this add to the risks of holding insecure or non-compliant information? Do employees increase your exposure through personal use, replying to phishing emails and insecure internet downloads? Do they understand the risks? In a bid to promote a safer online environment, the government launched the Cyber Essentials Scheme in 2014. This has been designed to serve as a ‘kite mark’ for businesses that can demonstrate security measures in place to protect themselves, customers and others.

If the worst happened, how would your insurance policies respond? Conventional insurance could provide some protection, with limited cover available through computer, public and management liability policies. However, specialist Crime and Cyber insurance cover is available, with some tailored to the needs of smaller enterprises. Although there are some material differences in the covers provided by different insurers, these policies offer a good level of protection overall and at surprisingly low cost.

For more information on Cyber, Crime and Data Loss insurance options or a free review of how well you are covered now, please contact Simon Mitchell, Corporate Account Director at Towergate Insurance on 01604 887325.

Towergate Insurance is a trading name of Towergate Underwriting Group Limited. Registered in England Company No. 04043759, registered address Towergate House, Eclipse Park, Sittingbourne Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3EN. Towergate Underwriting Group Limited are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Companies mentioned in this article

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