What is Cyber Insurance?

Having your business in the digital space gives you the advantage to quickly grow and flourish. Virtually any business owner has an online presence, and this can be concerning due to cyber attacks. Cybercrime is a common event that we hear about or experience on a daily basis. Your online presence carries vital information (your website) that could be used by hackers to exploit sensitive client data for monetary gain. This in turn can make you liable and responsible for any financial losses. Certain financial risks associated with cybercrime can be mitigated through cyber insurance policy coverage. Let us consider the importance of cyber insurance for your business.

Who Needs Cyber Insurance?

Who needs cyber insurance? Simply everyone who conducts business on-line. More specifically, cyber attack insurance is needed by businesses that:

Use computers or cloud systems to store data
Provide software or hardware services to clients
Use point-of-sale systems
Store customer data, including medical or credit card information

The Numbers Don’t Lie: Cyber Crime Statistics

Cybercrime is a frequently occuring activity. The statistics are well reported through online algorithms that track financial losses to business as a result of cyber crime. Consider the following 2019 Ontario statistics to understand the prevalence and frequency of cyber attacks.

2019 Cyber Attacks in Ontario:

On average 47% small businesses targeted lost around $17,000
On average 63% of medium and 70% of large businesses targeted lost around $184,000
70% of hacks are targeted at small and medium sized businesses
Your business is 9X more likely at this moment to be hacked than have a fire

What Is A Cyber Risk? How Is My Business Targeted?

There are many forms of cyber risks, or threats in the form of cyber attacks that directly threaten your business on-line. The most common include phishing emails, certain viruses, or malware used to get information on your client list.

Most often, cyber criminals and hackers are after specific information such as:

Credit or debit card information
Driver’s license information
Social Insurance numbers
Email addresses
Medical and health care information
Other personal information (passport info)
Information about employees

The damage to a business through cyber attacks can be significant. Financial losses are the obvious consequence, however, certain reputation loss is even more damaging to the future success of your business. By thinking about cyber insurance, you are making the right decision in protecting your businesses reputation into the future.

What Does Cyber Insurance Protect Against?

By investing in cyber insurance, a business owner can have peace of mind knowing that they are covered from the following cyber attacks:

Malware: malicious software that usually make their way through with link clicks and attachment downloads.
Phishing: fraudulent emails to steal information or encourage malware downloads.
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service): overwhelming a business’s server with multiple simultaneous requests to stop it from fulfilling legitimate requests.

As you can see, the cyber attacks are quite intricate and difficult to comprehend, never mind protect yourself against.

At Affiliated Insurance we are dedicated to providing you peace of mind with the protection of your business against cyber attacks. Contact us today or fill out our Cyber Insurance form for a cyber insurance quote.