Weak passwords

TOP CYBER SECURITY TIPS FOR WORKING REMOTELY

Keep close contact with your employer

Use what’s in your company’s tech toolbox

Control the impulse to improvise

Stay current on software updates and patches

Keep your VPN turned on

Beware of coronavirus-themed phishing emails

around the pandemic itself. Clients need to ensure that their employees are doing everything they can to prevent a breach.

A tested business continuity plan is the most effective response to handling a cyberattack, and it should cover both prevention and responding to an attack. This plan should also include incident response planning and table-top exercises to help the crisis management team identify any weak areas.

Employee education is also key. Clients should already be taking steps to help employees identify phishing attempts and follow the appropriate reporting methods if they suspect something’s wrong. Something as simple as keeping software up-to-date can fix and detect security flaws and should be regularly evaluated.

Employees should also be encouraged to change their password several times a year and not to use familiar or meaningful data within these. Above all, mitigating cyber risks is about being prepared and understanding how these risks change and evolve. By strengthening both employees’ training and system readiness, clients can strengthen their security posture and help to decrease the chance of a breach.

Are there any specific markets that you would highlight as being particularly at risk of cyberrelated issues and that brokers should be targeting with their policies?

Lindsey Nelson, CFC Underwriting:

been a disproportionate change in frequency of attacks, the likelihood of companies falling victim to these scams in a vulnerable and remote working scenario is greater in comparison to what we were experiencing pre-COVID-19.

And with employees now based in a remote environment, getting back up and running after a crippling cyber event becomes all the more complicated and leads to more severe claims.

James Tuplin, AXA XL: With such a huge percentage of the global workforce working from home as a result of COVID-19, it’s unsurprising that phishing attacks are on the rise – with a significant amount targeted

Develop a new routine

Source: Norton – Emerging Threats (2020)

Cyber risk was, for a long time, synonymous with privacy risk; this class of insurance grew in large part as a way of managing the risk associated with growing privacy legislation. However, while privacy is still an important part of cyber policies today, it would be very misleading to say that only companies with a privacy exposure have a need for cyber.

In fact, the nearly ubiquitous use of technology to run businesses today – whether using wire transfers when dealing with suppliers, storing valuable IP on computer systems, or using technology to fulfil business-critical functions – means that nearly all businesses in all industries have some form of cyber exposure and therefore a need for affirmative coverage.

Ironically, the businesses that are