According to Candice Sutherland, expert Cyber Underwriter at iToo Special Risks, Covid-19 has changed the manner in which we work, for the foreseeable future.
The pandemic has now rendered remote working and online engagement an essential way of conducting business. This has consequently introduced many new cyber risks to organisations, in no small part due to:
- teams working from new environments and, in many instances, using unfamiliar technology,
- stretching the capabilities of existing systems and implementing new infrastructure to cater for staff working remotely,
- being exposed to new distractions,
- concerns around the pandemic and lockdown, as well as being hungry for information on these issues,
- not necessarily being as vigilant as normal.
Hackers have been quick to leverage these changes, with various attacks from ransomware to malicious websites, scams and attacks targeting commonly used platforms.
We, unfortunately, received news from a service provider of an uninsured business who recently had to shut their doors following a ransomware incident that encrypted their production and backup environments. This could have easily been avoided if the business was covered by cyber insurance.
With a combination of first and third-party coverages, cyber insurance provides broad coverage to address your IT system and data related exposures.
Barker is a key broker to iTOO Cyber Insurance, that provides our clients businesses with access to expert knowledge and resources to effectively manage and recover from a potential malicious cyber incident.
In addition, iTOO and Barker are excited to partner in providing cyber insurance to our valued client community. As part of this partnership, we are able to deliver the following services to our clients:
- Conduct an online cyber session with key clients, possibly including clients who already have other lines placed with iTOO.
- Conduct one-on-one sessions with clients to discuss the merits and facts around cyber insurance as it pertains to their unique business.
- Perform cyber risk assessments.
- Staff training on cyber insurance, as well as general cyber risk awareness.
- Assist with other initiatives you believe would be of value.
iTOO’s policy extends to cover numerous incidents including but not limited to:
- Cyber extortion and malware (viruses, ransomware, or publishing of stolen data).
- Denial of service (disruption to operations).
- Downstream attack (a compromise of your environment resulting in damages to others).
- Hacking.
- Insider and privilege misuse (unauthorised access and use of systems and data by employees and service providers).
- Physical theft and loss (both devices and physical hard copy data).
- Threats posed by third party access into a client environment.
In addition, iTOO’s cyber insurance offering includes a defined incident response process, including an extensive scope of experienced specialists with a local presence as a well as global expertise, spanning the following areas:
- IT response costs to understand, mitigate and recover from the incident.
- Crisis communications and public relations costs, to reduce potential reputational damage and customer churn.
- Notification and remediation services to prevent affected parties suffering further damages.
The objective of cyber insurance is to transfer some of the risk of having a security breach to insurance. Cyber-risk coverage can therefore significantly assist in the timely remediation of cyberattacks and incidents, and may just be the lifeline your business needs to survive and thrive in these tumultuous times.
Contact us now to find out how you can get your business covered.