Cyber CrimeUncategorizedNovember 16, 2016Cyber crime is becoming more frequent and severe. There is much speculation on how much cyber crime is really costing businesses; Forbes estimates cyber crime costs to reach $2 Trillion by 2019, last year Lloyd’s estimated the costs to be $400 Billion a year. The figure is not exact however the consensus is the same, it is very expensive. Ginni Rometty, IBM Corp’s Chairman, President, and CEO stated, cyber crime is one of the greatest threats to every company in the world. How is this possible? Only large companies are affected by this right? Unfortunately, cyber crime affects all businesses of all sizes. Any business that relies on computers to operate is vulnerable. But why would a hacker target my small business specifically? It would be impossible for hackers to target each website or business individually which is why they create bots that scan the internet in search of vulnerabilities. Looking for systems that are easy to infect. Often, small businesses do not invest heavily in cyber security or have any strategies in place to mitigate a cyber attack, thus finding themselves the victim. Cyber attacks can happen in a variety of ways. From simply stealing private information to taking your data hostage for a ransom to causing your system to be inoperable. Cyber crime occurs often and largely goes undetected, mainly because that is exactly the point. Infiltration and espionage of confidential and private information is usually the target for these criminals. In a 2014 report from Ponemon Institute, malicious insiders, denial of service and web-based attacks account for more than 55% of all cyber crime costs. The average time to contain an attack was about a month and costs an average of $639,462USD. Even within Ontario, Casino Rama found itself a victim of cyber attack that resulted in a data breach releasing the private information of its customers, employees, and vendors dating back all the way to 2004. Over 12 years of confidential information! As a result a class action lawsuit of over $50 Million may ensue. Prepare your business by developing a strategy to prevent or reduce the impact of a cyber attack. To find out more on how to properly insure your business from cyber attacks and data breaches contact an Insurance Broker from our office today at info@pacins.ca or call (416)494-1268.