Business leaders are clever, driven people. They read the news to identify trends in their industry; assess risks and opportunities for their continued success; and define the long-term goals for their organization. But while business leaders are bright people, they aren't perfect. In truth, they sometimes overlook important factors that influence their survival. One such factor is cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity breaches are bad news for good businesses. Of course, the initial attack is destructive, but possibly even more damaging is the aftermath. For instance, monitoring a post-attack network, recovering files and bolstering digital infrastructure are very expensive. And when you add in the possibility of class-action lawsuits from disgruntled customers or third-party partners, data breach can be downright deadly - financially speaking.
Thankfully, you can improve your chances of survival by investing cybersecurity insurance from CyberPolicy. You don't have to go it alone. In fact, cyber insurance should really be part of any organization's risk management policy.
The Risk Management Approach
What happens if a customer enters your store only to slip and falls on a wet floor? What happens if you are supposed to make a delivery to an event and you are held up by automobile troubles while en route? What happens if your office is vandalized or robbed? That's right, business insurance comes to the rescue!
The same thing is true for cybersecurity insurance. If your organization is struck by ransomware or a malicious traffic attack, your insurer can help pay for the financial damages related to business downtime. And if you accidentally leak customer or partner information, your third-party cyber insurance policy can assist with credit monitoring or legal fees.
Digital security incidents happen all the time. The best thing you can do for your company is to anticipate threat and address the financial costs before it happens.
Developing a Contingency Plan
While cybersecurity insurance is an important part of risk management, it's not the only facet. Your business should still take the necessary time to implement vital security software, hire an IT team (or external agency) and train your employees on proper defense protocols. Each of these directives are a crucial tool to preserving your organization against online attacks and data breach.
Still, many companies forego the development of a contingency plan. Ask yourself, if your business was struck by a severe cyberattack later today, would you know how to respond or would your office be consumed by chaos and panic?
Do yourself (and your employees) a favor by developing a contingency plan ASAP. Start by delineating an incident reporting structure so that every member of staff knows what to do (e.g. contact IT, who will alert the boss, who will alert the insurance provider and inform the proper authorities).
You'll also want to address quarantining the problem or affected device, investigating the network for additional attacks and routing out the method of incursion. Even months after the initial breach, your IT staff should continue monitoring the network for abnormalities. It might also behoove you to hire an agency to investigate data breaches for leaked customer information.
If you are curious to learn more about cybersecurity insurance or defense planning, please reach out to CyberPolicy today. We can be your partners in the fight for digital security!
