We’ve all heard stories about hackers, viruses, and evil Internet trolls that sneak into our computer systems late at night to make off with customer data, credit card numbers, or personal information.
If you’re like most small business owners, you probably don’t know a great deal about cyber crime or how to prevent it, and who could blame you? Cyber security is a complex and rapidly evolving industry, and staying up to date requires daily effort.
What you should know, however, is that this makes you the perfect target.
The Numbers
A recent report from virus protection giant Symantec reveals that 43% of online attacks are targeted at small business. McAfee, another anti-virus software company, has shown that more than 780,000 records are lost to hackers on a daily basis.
Cyber criminals rake in nearly $1.5 trillion per year plying their trade, and small businesses that lack security represent almost half of this revenue. Many small businesses don’t even know they’ve been hit until far too late, with criminals sometimes lurking in the host network for months before being discovered.
And all of this doesn’t even address the issues your enterprise will face due to a loss of credibility or consumer confidence in the wake of a cyber attack. According to Symantec, most small businesses hit by a data breach are out of business within six months.
What Can You Do?
You might be surprised to learn that safeguarding yourself against cyber crime has become significantly easier in the last few years, so much so that many insurance firms are now issuing Cyber Liability policies to provide enterprises with real and lasting protection against a data breach.
It’s important to remember that cyber liability is a specific form of coverage, and will not be included in a standard general liability policy.
Any good cyber liability plan will cover
- Legal fees and expenses from litigation
- Costs of customer notification in the event of a breach
- Identity repair or restoration costs for those affected by a breach
- Recovery costs associated with finding and reclaiming stolen data
- Repair or replacement costs for damaged hardware or software systems
- Take Data Security Seriously
You’ve spent a great deal of time and effort building your business, and the sad truth is that it might only take a few keystrokes from a hacker to eradicate all your hard work.
All the statistics show that things are going to get worse before they get better, but affordable, effective protection exists. Our advice? Look into a cyber plan now, and save yourself the heartache of wishing you had.
Sources
- Attackers Target Both Large and Small Businesses
- Economic Impact of Cybercrime— No Slowing Down
