It seems every day we hear about yet another breach of security on the news. These issues only get progressively worse as time passes. According to Michael Skinner, “federal, state, and local law enforcement have recently dramatically increased investigation efforts into a wide variety of high-tech crimes, including various internet and cyber crimes.” Big crimes, such as the hack of credit card information from Target stores across the nation back in 2013, have faded from memory as the figurative "playing field" gets bigger.
The most recent big cyber-attack would be the Equifax breach, which is claimed to have exposed the personal information and finances of over 145 million Americans. Why are these issues constant and have they been becoming increasingly common?
How Do These Breaches Happen?
The biggest factor in a cyber-attack is the exposure to data breaches within a company or individual's software. If your website, computers, servers, or anything holding sensitive information is not properly protected and backed up, there is a constant risk that you could lose it all or have your sensitive information taken advantage of by these cyber criminals.
How Big of An Issue is Cyber Crime?
Between the loss of capabilities, data, Ransomware, and other expenses, it has been projected by Juniper Research that in the next 5 years, the global cost of damages through cybercrime will be at roughly $8 Trillion. For some perspective, the cost was $500 billion in 2015, which means these cybercrimes, in the next 10 years alone, will cost the world about 15 times as much as it ever has in the history leading up to this point. Exposure to data breaches could be a company or organization's worst nightmare, as the average cost of an infiltration is $4 million, or closer to $7 million if you live in the United States.
Although nearly half of data breaches are from cyber criminals, one should not overlook the other half of exposed information, which is due to problems within the systems, whether something in the software, an issue with the hardware, or, more likely, human error. Take all the precautions you can by ensuring the integrity of your systems, your workers, and the processes in which sensitive data is handled and kept. Realize, too, that these precautions aren’t bulletproof. You are going to be hacked at some point. When you are, it’s important to protect yourself with Cyber Liability Insurance, because cybercrime is only going to keep increasing. Don't allow yourself to become a victim.
If you own a business, you're at an exponential risk if you take in any sort of customer data without cyber insurance. These policies are very affordable and can be added to your current BOPs easily with an expert to walk you through it. Reach out to us here if you aren't sure of your cyber risks, or you would like to see how much a cyber policy would cost.