Over the last few years, we have seen an increasing number of major insurance companies begin to add cyber insurance to their list of services. Cyber insurance, also known as cyber liability coverage, is now offered by many insurance brands such as Liberty Mutual Insurance, HSB, Chubb, and Hiscox.
But the concept of cyber insurance has been around since 2000 when Lloyd’s of London first introduced such a policy. So, why are so many companies offering it now? And why are many big businesses shelling out for this sort of digital coverage?
What Is Cyber Insurance and Why Are Companies Using It?
Generally, cyber insurance is a type of insurance product that protects users from the risks of the digital space. There are several different types of coverage, including business interruption, which covers lost income as a result of interruption due to a digital attack, forensic investigation, which covers the legal and technical aspects of an investigation following a digital attack, and ‘hacksurance’, which is insurance against cyber attacks and hacks.
So long as hackers have existed, some would argue that there has been a need for cyber insurance. However, this need has risen recently due to the growing cost of cyber attacks. A Ponemon Institute report regarding the annual cost of cybercrime in the United Kingdom revealed that a data breach costs a UK organization £2.48 million on average. This includes legal expenses, complementary protection services for affected clients and customers, and the potential for job losses. Organizations are realizing that they must protect themselves properly in the event of a cyber attack, with cyber insurance being used to soften the financial blow.
How Else Are Businesses Protecting Their Digital Data?
Though, cyber insurance isn’t the only way in which big businesses are taking steps to better protect their digital data. Many are making use of other technology, such as a WAF (Web Application Firewall) in order to protect themselves against the most apparent attack vectors, such as the web. Web applications and services are commonly used to deny services and steal data, meaning that it’s important to analyze and inspect malicious requests before they can do some substantial damage.
Other steps are being taken on the employee side of things, including regularly reviewing who has access and introducing levels of access too. For example, if a former employee retains access to sensitive customer information even after they have left the company, this could pose a major threat. Likewise, it doesn’t make sense for a junior admin to have access to the same precious information as a senior executive. Introducing policies about security, such as tips on password security, also go a long way.
Why This Matters to Consumers
It’s not just a business’ bottom line that benefits from being proactive about security, as its customers benefit too. As we have seen with the recent data breach suffered by Ticketmaster, which was part of a larger card-skimming operation, breaches leave customers incredibly vulnerable. A sizeable hack could have ramifications as other accounts held by the customer on other platforms are impacted too.
This just highlights why businesses need to take cybersecurity seriously. There is just too much at stake to rest on your laurels when it comes to keeping data safe.
You can Protect your Data, too
Protecting data is very important especially for businesses because, more often than not, data is the backbone of their operations. However, it can be said that personal data protection is equally important especially in this highly digital age and that is why you need to protect your data, too. One of the ways you can do this is by choosing a phone plan such as Efani , which has unlimited calls and text plans as well as an added value of security against sim hacking and data protection with personal information encryption feature. The plan has to have a 24/5 support and Efani is one of those plans that has these feature. Lastly, every phone data protection service needs an insurance and Efani has a $5m insurance coverage.
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