In today’s digital age, businesses face an ever-increasing threat of cyberattacks and privacy breaches. As we have seen in the last year with big brands like Optus, Medibank and Ambulance Victoria all experiencing cyber breaches. As many big name brands as we hear about experiencing a cyberattack there’ll be two or three times as many that we don’t. Australia is now a prime target for cyber thieves, due to our high rate of technology adoption and preference for electronic payments – 90% of Australian businesses.
So no matter the size of your business or the industry you are in, cyber insurance should be part of your risk management. Let’s explore why you need cyber insurance for your business and how it can protect you.
1. Cyber Insurance provides financial protection
There are many forms of hacking and cybercrime. For example, if you run an accounting business, a criminal may gain access to your clients’ sensitive information, and threaten to release it under extortion. Or if you run a retail business, someone may compromise your payment systems, and you may not be able to process payments and orders anymore. If any of these happen, you may lose revenue, and your financial losses could impact your ability to continue to operate.
That’s where the right level of cyber insurance comes in. It provides financial protection and safeguards your business against potential financial losses resulting from cybercrimes.
2. Cyber insurance helps manage the fallout of a privacy breach
Cybercrimes statistically involve a high number of privacy breaches, which lead to the exposure of confidential information. Addressing a privacy breach can be a complex process. If your business was affected, you’d likely face substantial costs and put a significant strain on internal resources in responding.
Cyber insurance plays a vital role in supporting your business should a privacy breach occur. It helps manage:
1. Emergency support: provides resources for expert incident response, enabling your businesses to handle the breach promptly.
2. Third party notification: covers the costs associated with notifying affected parties about the privacy breach, ensuring transparency and compliance with regulatory requirements.
3. Computer forensics: supports you in conducting thorough computer forensics investigations to determine the extent of the breach and gather evidence.
4. Data Recovery: it covers expenses related to data recovery and restoration, helping you regain control over compromised information.
5. Fines regulation: helps you manage and cover regulatory fines imposed due to the privacy breach.
3. Your brand and reputation, another important reason why you need cyber insurance
If your business experiences a cyberattack, it’s critical to proactively take control and immediately inform authorities and those who may be impacted. The way you respond to such events will impact your reputation, both in the short and long term.
To minimise any impact on your brand and reputation you will likely want to engage professionals who have the experience to manage your customer and media communication – aka Crisis Communication, PR, or marketing experts.
The right level of cyber security will enable you to financially access this professional support so that you can manage your crisis communication professionally, and minimise damage to your reputation.
If you want to find out more reasons why you need cyber insurance and need professional insurance advice, give us a call on 1800 958 384 or email us at hello@omnisure.com.au.
