By now, everybody knows cybersecurity threats are a serious matter. Yet companies and consumers continually make poor choices online all the time. Sure, you might be able to get away with a weak password here or an unencrypted file there. But how long will your luck hold out? Eventually, a hacker will exploit those poor defense protocols.

While it's true every company is vulnerable to cyberattacks, some make greater efforts toward securing their digital assets. Investing in a cybersecurity insurance is a smart idea for anyone worried about the financial damages associated with online threats.

However, some folks won't learn their lesson until it's too late. If only we could nudge them in the right direction. Perhaps if we shared the price tag each company faces when hit by a cyber scam, people would begin to wake up to the dangers online. Unfortunately, this is much more difficult than it sounds.

"Cyber breaches are one of the most likely and most expensive threats to corporations," writes Harvard Business Review. "Yet, few companies can quantify just how great their cyber risk exposure truly is, preventing them from effectively protecting themselves."

Harvard Business Review goes on to say it is difficult for organizations to understand whether they have "a $100 million problem or a $100 one." Now obviously, if you run a small business, your damages probably won't be in the millions. But that doesn't mean you are off the hook. In fact, you may be hit the hardest "“ relatively speaking.

Corporate giants usually have the resources to overcome costly cyberattacks. However fledgling businesses and SMBs might only enjoy razor-thin profit margins. Anything that derails operations could be the coup de gras business owners fear most.

Examples include:

• Ransomware attacks leading to excessive business downtimes and extortion of thousands of dollars in removal fees.

• Malware attacks costing thousands of dollars to expunge and repair.

• Data breaches leaking customer and client information, resulting in thousands of dollars in victim credit monitoring and legal fees.

• Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, preventing users from accessing your site or service, and detracting from your bottom line.

As you can see, these price tags aren't precise. The consequence of each cyberattack is different, depending upon the target. For instance, ransomware affecting one computer might cost $300. But the same ransomware spreading to every laptop in your 50-person company will be a $15,000 problem.

Similarly, the number of records spilled will quantify a data breach of that nature. If the cost per record is $217 and you lose 1000 records, you have a $217,000 situation.

Even if the price tags are exact, one thing is certain. Spending pennies a day on a cybersecurity insurance policy will ultimately be more cost-effective than shelling out thousands of dollars to recover from a cyberattack or data breach.

Cybersecurity insurance can cover data theft, network damages, ransom fees, loss of income, business downtime, legal fees, credit monitoring, and more.

So, what are you waiting for? Invest in a cyber insurance policy from CyberPolicy today!