Small business owners put their hard-earned money, savings, and finance into their venture. But slight negligence in data protection can bring down their establishment.
Unfortunately, not all small businesses are equipped to handle cyber attacks. For this reason, speak to your cyber insurance broker about how to increase your online security.
Cybercrime Statistics in Canada
As more businesses become digital, it is only a matter of time that cybercriminals find out the loopholes in their data security systems.
• In 2020, over half of SMBs suffered minor to major data breaches.
• Around 43% of cyber attacks are aimed at small businesses.
• Currently, less than 15% of all Canadian small businesses are prepared for hacking attacks.
• The recovery costs average at $200,000.
How to Defend Your Small Business Against Cyber Attacks?
Reduce your cybersecurity risk exposure by:
Including the staff in your risk prevention plan: Your employees may unknowingly leak data or leave a gateway open for cybercriminals to enter. It can cause a data breach or a stolen identity. Hence, conduct training sessions periodically to help them detect cyber threats and respond to them.
Eliminating auto-save on payment information: Hackers can steal credit card information and corrupt financial statements or customer data via point-of-sale systems. Therefore, make it a practice to use only the payments with in-built security software and stop storing default payment modes.
Using two-step or multi-factor authentication: If you forget your password and lock yourself out of the account, the computer for identity verification. You should answer a series of pre-approved secret questions or enter a combination of PIN, password, and fingerprint. Although these steps are tedious, they offer the highest level of security.
Installing the latest security tools and software: Hackers don’t just target multi-million-dollar companies, but any loose end is fair game to them. So, if you are using low-cost or free-trial software to protect your data, that is not enough. Stop being vulnerable to extortion, ransomware, and phishing attacks and find a high-quality solution.
Get Small Business Cyber Liability Insurance
When your every effort fails, cyber liability insurance can cover the costs involving intangible assets. For instance, customer data breaches and the other risks mentioned earlier. You will also recover loss of revenue, damage to electronic records, legal expenses, and technical investigation costs.
After a cyberattack, your cyber insurance can help you hire a PR firm to deal with the public backlash. It will compensate for extortion costs and regulatory penalties awarded to the claimant. Your clients and partners will receive notifications of the breach.
Cost of Cyber Insurance
Seeing as you can have all these advantages for as low as $450 annually, it is worth paying to avoid a potential recovery cost of $200,000.
However, the actual premium may vary with factors like business size, projected annual revenue, number of employees, location, industry type, etc.
But cyber insurance is not included in your general liability insurance policy. It must be opted as an add-on. Also, depending on your business, the policy can come with some limitations. Talk to your cyber insurance broker to know more.
