Adding Extra Defence to Your Cyber Protection

Cyber attacks are on the rise – according to the government’s Cyber security breaches survey 2024, 50% of businesses and a third of charities have experienced some form of attack in the last 12 months.

Protecting against cyber crime by ensuring you have adequate security is vital, but even the most well-prepared businesses can still be a target.

Here at Lifeline IT we work closely with our clients on cyber security risk mitigation and solutions and one thing we’re increasingly getting asked about is cyber insurance. As an IT provider we can’t advise on this, but we’ve partnered with insurance specialists Partners& (www.partnersand.com), who are Lifeline IT’s insurance adviser, to produce this essential guide to cyber insurance.

Explained Mathew Clark, Cyber Director at Partners&: “Although half of businesses are likely to be attacked in the next year, only 10% are insured. If someone told you there was a 50% chance of your company being destroyed by fire, you’d definitely be insured against it.

“Many people don’t realise cyber insurance exists or wrongly believes it’s included in their existing company insurance, which it isn’t. You need a stand-alone cyber insurance policy, regardless of your business. It doesn’t matter your size or sector, you can still be vulnerable. And being a charity doesn’t mean you’re safe either – in fact you’re more likely to be attacked because the cyber criminals think you lack the resources to properly protect yourself.

“Cyber insurance doesn’t have to be expensive – policies can start from a few hundred pounds. The key thing is to get the right policy – there’s a lot of variation in scope and depth of coverage, so it’s worth investing the time to get it right.”

Choose the right broker
“You need to work with the right broker – one who has engaged with the area of cyber security and can give good advice. They need to be able to talk about risk mitigation, not just sell you insurance.

“A good broker should have access to data that can tell you what your risk factor is. So if you’re a construction company with £5m in revenue, they will be able to advise on your likelihood of being attacked, based on your sector and size.”

Look for pro-active policies
“A good cyber policy will often offer pro-active services. For instance, when you become a policyholder, some insurers will enrol you into their digital monitoring service and alert you to any potential issues they detect by studying all your digital information that’s available in the public domain. It’s another layer of protection against criminals.”

And good response services
“Another thing to look for in a policy is a really good breach response service. This means you will get immediate help to respond and recover, should you get attacked. This is particularly important for SMEs, who may not have the same resources as larger corporations. A good policy will also provide IT forensics, so they can find out how you’ve been attacked, and also give legal advice on how to inform the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which you may need to do.”

Check the warranties
“Some cyber insurance policies are filled with complex warranties which demand certain cyber security steps must be in place as a condition of coverage.

It is important to work with a broker who can provide the appropriate guidance on the minimum security protections your business will need, so as to avoid quibbles with insurers on compliance with these standards after a claim occurs.”

Costs
“The cost of a cyber insurance policy can be as little as £200 a year. There are also “micro-policies” available from £50 a year, which cover smaller companies with up to £1million in revenue and up to 10 staff.”

For further information about cyber insurance, contact Matthew at [email protected].