Could one cyber-attack wipe out your business?

As SMEs focus on protecting their people, clients and businesses from the impact of Covid-19, a different kind of virus has been quietly spreading.
 

Cyber criminals are exploiting the fear, disruption and sudden, unplanned move to much higher percentage of the population working remotely.

Most of us now have a much clearer idea of what it means to run a business without being able to access our physical premises. But how many of us have thought about how long we could operate if we were locked out of our systems?

"60% of SMEs in the US go out of business within 6 months of being hacked."

^{- National Cyber Security Alliance}

What’s the damage?

The average cost of a single cyber-attack is somewhere around US$200,000.

This can vary hugely depending on the size of your firm, the nature and sophistication of the attack, whether customer records are compromised, whether there is a prolonged impact on business continuity and many other factors.

Costs can include: loss of business due to reputational damage or business interruption, ransom payments, software and hardware costs, fines and legal fees (including liability for the losses of third-parties associated with your business) and the consultancy fees of cyber response consultants.

Calling in the Cyber SWAT team

The first 24-72 hours following a cyber incident are crucial. You need to assemble a Cyber SWAT team, fast.

Depending on the nature of the attack, you may need to call in a whole host of consultants including, but not limited to: specialist IT forensics, lawyers and PR specialists. These experts don’t come cheap, especially if you need to engage them on a moment’s notice.

Something a lot of people don’t know about cyber insurance is that it can give you access to the experts you need to quickly respond and recover from an attack and, crucially, the costs are covered.

Cyber criminals won’t be interested in my little business …

Many SMEs may feel that they aren’t big or high profile enough to be targeted, the reality is far from it. If you haven’t already had an attack, you are in the small minority.

"Cybercrime jumps more than 50% in 2019 with new threats emerging from COVID-19 pandemic."

^{- Cyber Security Agency of Singapore Report 2019}

Smaller companies tend to have weaker cybersecurity and are often considered an alternate route to the harder-to-penetrate bigger corporations to whom they provide services.

How to protect your business

Don’t be another statistic, check out our Cyber Security Guide for useful steps on how to protect your business from cyber criminals.

Cyber Risk Insurance

As the threat and the regulatory landscape evolve and the cost of cyber claims increase, a cyber insurance policy could be the difference between business continuity and business failure.

For more information please visit our cyber insurance webpage or contact our experts today.