Cyber-crime is one of the newest liabilities companies are facing on the market these days. As businesses continue to move larger portions of sensitive data and company operations onto the internet and computer networks, their risk of facing a cyber-attack exponentially increases. However, many Fortune 500 companies haven’t taken the necessary precautions.
According to a study by a national insurer, over half of Fortune 500 firms believed their firms would be seriously harmed by a cyber-attack. Yet many are still unprepared for one.
The top three risks the study identified were: theft of confidential information, loss of reputation and direct data loss from malicious acts from hackers and viruses. Of the respondents, half said they had technical safeguards in place to guard against a security breach. And 15% said they did not have the resources to protect themselves.
What’s more, of the companies who did have cyber-security policies, only one out of ten firms covered cyber threats from outsourced vendors. In reality, some of the top data breaches are caused not by malicious outsiders, but from individuals associated with the company, including disgruntled former employees, current employees and vendors.
It is essential to continually assess your business operations to identify any cyber risks that may have slipped through the cracks. What are the costs and consequences of a data breach? What about your relationships with vendors and any outsourced functions? How closely are those exchanges managed? If you did have a cyber-attack what steps did you take to recover from it? What can you do in the future to prevent it from happening?
All industries and companies face the risk of a privacy or network security breach. And valuable company information such as tax identification numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, medical history and more are at risk. Privacy & Network Security insurance is a necessity to protect against this widespread exposure. PLRisk Advisor’s cyber-liability program is the solution to help your customers manage and protect against risk. Contact us today for more information.
