cyber attack

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Cyber security attacks continue to occur at an alarming rate. Do you have defensive steps in place to protect you and your business?

Recently, the White House warned American businesses to take urgent security measures to protect against ransomware attacks, as hackers shift their tactics from stealing data to disrupting critical infrastructure https://nyti.ms/3cGS2YE

This heightened warning follows a string of escalating ransomware attacks – from stealing data to disrupting operations. For example, we all witnessed the Colonial Pipeline event last month when they were hit with a ransomware attack. Their business records were frozen by a criminal group, forcing the company to suspend operations.

Without securing a dedicated cyber policy, most businesses likely do not have adequate insurance coverage following a data breach. Cyber insurance helps your company recover after a data breach, with costs that can include business disruption, revenue loss, equipment damages, legal fees, public relations expenses, forensic analysis, and costs associated with legally mandated notifications.

Our team of risk management specialists are in place to advise you on a cyber risk assessment. Please email Jack Prewitt, a risk management advisor specializing in cyber coverage, at jackprewitt@prewitt.group to discuss how we can put our power to mitigate risk to work for you.

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Have you stopped to think about the risks your business faces this year? Among other risks, cyber threats remain a high-ranking concern across businesses of all sizes and industries—especially those in technology, banking and professional services sectors.

In 2018, cybersecurity threats grew from small, local attacks to attacks causing disorder on a massive scale. Consequently, it’s critical to be informed of cyber security trends and prepared to prevent cyber attacks in 2019.  Risk Management Magazine reports that the “massive gap between confidence and key fundamental preparation may itself pose a risk.”

Recently, Chubb announced 3 key cybersecurity trends to watch this year:

  1. “Cybersecurity regulation and enforcement will increase and focus more on actions taken by businesses pre-incident, in addition to post-incident protocol.”

For instance, in March of 2018, Alabama enacted the Alabama Breach Notification Act of 2018 (2018-396), which requires business entities to have certain security measures in place and predetermined notification measures to alert impacted individuals of the breach within a reasonable amount of time. Chubb predicts that this year lawmakers will not only shift their attention to companies’ data collection and data usage practices, but also on the actions that organizations should take to better prevent a cyber incident from occurring.

  1. “Crime does pay, and business is booming: the business model of cybercrime will tilt heavily toward direct monetization attacks.”

According to Chubb, this means that cyber criminals will prioritize attacks that result in direct monetization, and in order to pursue these types of attacks, criminals will continue to employ ransomware. Consequently, ransomware will continue to grow and become more destructive.

  1. “Cyber criminals will target individuals just as much as businesses as billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices come online.”

IoT devices, such as vehicles, smart phones, nanny-cams and home appliances, will provide cyber criminals with more ways to target individuals and opportunities to gather personal information.

All in all, business leaders should strive to defend their companies from cyberattacks through preparedness rather than respond to cyber attacks. Cyber insurance plays a key role in protecting your company and managing cybersecurity risks. If you’re interested in obtaining cyber insurance, contact a consultant at The Prewitt Group today!