3min
With many employees continuing to work remotely due to COVID-19, we invited Peter Katkov, one of our partners and an expert at Benchmark to share his expertise on cybersecurity. In this 3-part series, Peter shares some of his insights and best practices that may be particularly relevant in today’s climate.
Many organizations are meticulous about taking care of their employees. They put hours of thought into everything from onboarding to employee benefits, which snacks to offer and activities to educate and foster team building. Yet, they may occasionally overlook potential risks and exposures related to their own organization, including in the area of cybersecurity.
The headlines about cyber attacks have become increasingly frequent, and is no longer just a concern to huge multi-national corporations with databases full of vulnerable information. For organizations that increasingly rely on their digital connectivity to do business, the question is not “if,” but rather “when?”
In light of today's pandemic, this question is increasingly relevant as many workers are now accessing and transmitting sensitive company data remotely from their homes. As the first defense line of defense, a company’s IT service provider, network access best practices, firewall, and virus protection software can help ward off unauthorized access and attack. But what would happen to your company if those defenses were breached and all of your mission-critical data was suddenly no longer available. Who would you turn to for help?
Cyber liability insurance policies have evolved to help transfer the risk of loss from a policyholder’s balance sheet to that of the insurance company. Coverage has significantly broadened in light of modern hacking activity to include things like ransom payments, cyber forensics, data recovery expenses, fraudulent payment requests, and much more. The real value of cyber insurance is in receiving professional support immediately following an attack. There are also preemptive services such as domain monitoring and penetration and vulnerability testing to warn you of a potential issue before it becomes a problem.
In 2019, Chubb performed a comprehensive survey on the subject, and found that despite 80% of respondents reporting they were concerned with cyber risk, only 10% of companies in the US carry cyber liability coverage. This is surprising, given how inexpensive and easy it has become to sign-up for this type of insurance. Given today's growing work-from-home culture, and increases in cyber attacks, it may be wise to invest in this type of insurance for peace of mind.
