Cyber claim rates are on the rise and the majority of victims are small to medium-sized businesses being hit with cybercrimes like funds transfer fund and ransomware attacks, which are more prevalent now due to many businesses working remotely and not having the proper security in place. See below for a step-by-step guide on how to protect your business:
Step 1: Focus on network security. Smaller organizations or those in industry sectors such as construction and manufacturing that weren’t traditional targets in the past, need to change their perception that their business is immune from a cyber attack, simply because they don’t store thousands of customer credit card numbers or PII. Given the pressures on smaller IT departments to keep pace, as well as their tendency to be more reactive than proactive, it’s recommended that these companies either consider outsourcing their network security to a third-party provider or augment their existing staff with outside expertise.
Step 2: Employee education. Educating employees is another critical area for organizations to address and needs to be comprehensive. For the best outcome, training should engage and motivate employees by presenting them as part of the solution. Tabletop exercises that require participants to work through different risk scenarios and potential cyber threats can be an effective way to accomplish that goal.
Step 3: Implement Multi-factor Authentication (MFA). Carriers increasingly require insureds to implement (MFA) as a subjectivity for a cyber liability policy. MFA is an authentication method that requires the user to provide two or more credentials in order to gain access to an account. This decreases the likelihood of a successful cyber attack. Why is it important for cyber security? Password compromises have accounted for 81% of data breaches in recent years.1 There are limits to what a single password can do. Rather than asking for a single password that hackers and cyber criminals can gain access to, this adds an additional layer of security. MFA helps protect against unauthorized access, data breaches and password-based cyber-attacks.
Cyber threats are everywhere. They are constantly changing and affecting more businesses every day. Contact us today if you have questions on your current cyber insurance coverage or if you would like to discuss obtaining a quote.