As cyber technology advances, so do cyber criminals. Cyber breaches and ransomware attacks run rampant on news headlines.
From personal health information breaches to total pipeline shutdowns—cyberattacks do not discriminate.
Whether you are part of a Fortune 500 or a family-owned operation, if you use technology to transact business, provide a service, or manufacture a product, cybercrime is a potential threat that can be system failure event, cyber-attack, or data breach.
These statistics are only a drop in the ocean of an illustration of the potential devastation caused by breaches in cyber security:
- The average financial ramifications of a breach total 8.2 million dollars.
- The average PII record breach costs $242.
- The average PHI record breach costs $429.
- It is estimated that by 2025, cyberattacks will rack up global reparations cost of 10.5 trillion dollars annually.
Companies from all industries are susceptible to cyberattacks, but some run higher risk than others. The top targets are:
Banks and financial institutions: attackers are after credit card numbers, bank account information, and personal data.
Healthcare: vulnerable information such as patient social security numbers, insurance and billing information, clinical research data, and personal health records.
Corporations: sensitive client and employee information, intellectual property, concepts, pitches, and strategies are prime targets.
Higher education: personally identifiable information, billing information, financial records, academic research, and enrollment records.
The sooner a breach is discovered, the sooner it can be contained, and the more money can be saved.
IBM reports that it takes an average of 197 days for a company to discover a breach and 69 days to contain it. On average, companies end up saving over one million dollars if they can contain the breach in less than 30 days.
The longer the breach containment takes, the greater number of potential consequences. Not only does a slow response time mean more cost, but your company can also face damaging side effects such as losing customer trust, diminished employee productivity, and even major fines.
A study conducted by Deloitte University reports that 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with companies that have never experienced a cyberattack or data breach. Not only is recovering from a breach a major financial catastrophe, but the potential loss of future customers is significant.
While cyber-attacks are here to stay, neither you, nor your business, must accept defeat and fall victim to devastating schemes. Make your business’ cybersecurity a priority by taking these steps toward maximum preparedness.
DON’T ignore security and privacy compliance.
We know, in a sea of online trainings and compulsory company certifications, cybersecurity awareness and privacy compliance training may seem as though you’ve done one training, so you’ve done them all, but staying attune to your company’s particular cyber risk climate is pivotal.
Each company has their own tailored set of requirements and procedures, but some consistent habits for cyber safety include:
- Implement compliance regulations, policies, and procedures.
- Use MFA (multifactor certification) for all business-related accounts, systems, and third-party funds transfers.
- Acquire social engineering training.
- Inventory collected PHI, PII, and PCI.
- Conduct periodic vulnerability scans and penetration tests on your IT infrastructure
- Audit vendors who have access to your electronic infrastructure to ensure compliance with governing laws and evaluate their cyber protections.
DO purchase cyber liability insurance
You can never be too careful when protecting the valuable information and assets of your business, employees, and clients. Talk to one of our experienced cyber risk specialists by clicking HERE. Key coverages vital to your company’s cyber preparedness include:
First Party Liability Coverage
Cyber Extortion and Ransomware
Business Interruption & Expenses
Funds Transfer Fraud
Breach Response, Crisis Management, Reputational Harm
Computer Hardware Replacement
Data Restoration
Third Party Liability Coverage
Network & Information Security Liability
Regulatory Defense & Penalties
Multi-media Content Liability
PCI Fines & Assessments
Technology Errors & Omissions
Bodily Injury & Property Damage
Cyber liability insurance often includes additional risk mitigation services, including:
Network vulnerability scans
Training videos
Information security hotlines
Breach event preparedness
Social engineering training
Who are these cyber attackers? Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report breaks it down by percentage:
55% of cyberattacks are committed by organized criminal groups
30% by internal bad actors
70% by various outsiders
4% four or more attacker actions
1% multiple partners
1% single partners
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Prepare and fortify your business’ cyber preparedness.
Use our checklist to mitigate your risk of cyberattack:
Now that remote work is commonplace, more than ever we are seeing a significant increase of sensitive workplace data on personal devices. Keep sensitive data on designated workplace devices. Company firewalls and protective systems are more effective in preventing data from being snatched by the wrong hands than everyday personal devices.
The world keeps moving faster and we keep racing to keep up with it. In our rush to get through all our emails, it is so easy to absent-mindedly download a file without a verified source, potentially compromising your system’s security and leaving you and your company vulnerable to cyberattack. Only download files from verified sources. If you don’t need it, don’t download it.
A friendly reminder that “password,” is not a good password. We humans are a lot more predicable than we’d like to believe and having a hacker guess your password is more common than you might think. Never use birthdays, names, or common phrases. Switch it up, use sequences of meaningless numbers, letters, and symbols. Do also change them regularly. The harder it is for you to remember, the more secure it is. Never share your passwords, but if you have a difficult time remembering, store your passwords in a safe place only you have access to.
Yes, we have all had the inclination to click “update software later” every day until the end of time, but each update offers a new improvement to your device’s security. Regularly install new updates to mitigate your device’s susceptibility to cyberattacks.
Breach monitoring tools monitor activity on your device and alert you at the first sign of suspicious activity. These tools work in the background while you carry on with the rest of your day.
Your company may be on top of your cyber security like a fine-tuned machine, but unfortunately cyber attackers may find their way through even your most ferocious of firewalls. No matter how disciplined your cybersecurity team, it is important to establish a formal attack response and recovery plan.
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JGS Insurance: Your Trusted Cyber Attack Statistics & Business Preparedness
How ready is your business to defend against a cyberattack? Educate, prepare, mitigate. The security of your organization’s valuable data starts with you.
