Cyber criminals are after data, looking to cause system interruption and obtain money.

No matter how robust your protections are, antivirus can only combat known issues (antivirus companies have been hacked!) and cyber-criminals value all data, yours included. Their method of attack can take many forms including the following;

System Interruption by Malware – software which is specifically designed to disrupt, damage or gain access to a computer system – ie viruses, worms, trojan horses

Ransomware – cyber criminals infiltrate the computer system and encrypts files, making it impossible for the business to contact customers etc. The criminal demands a ransom in order to unlock the files. Although the ransom may be small the business interruption claim for the business could be significant

Phishing – the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, often for malicious reasons, by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication

Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack – an attack occurs when multiple systems flood the bandwidth or resources of a targeted system

Cyber Extortion – an attack or threat of attack, coupled with a demand for money to avert or stop the attack

Rogue/Negligent Employees – employees may maliciously or innocently release information, or open files (email attachments) which allows Malware to infiltrate the computer system

The exposure to your business can impact your balance sheet (ie first response costs, third party liability, fines, loss of revenue), your brand/reputational damage, loss of Intellectual Property/contractual liability.

As an Insurance Broker, we want to ensure that our clients are afforded the opportunity to protect their business against the consequences of the above.