With mass remote working underway in the UK and around the world during the COVID-19 lockdowns, an unintended side effect may be the risks posed to companies’ cyber security.
A recent study reveals that since early February 2020, cyber criminals have been exploiting the fear and concerns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. They have targeted companies with employees working remotely, who have become more likely to click on malicious links or to use unsecure networks due to their isolation.
One particularly sinister phishing attack saw cyber criminals posing as employees from the World Health Organisation (WHO), encouraging remote workers to distribute a malicious attachment that stole personal information.
Due to this concerning rise in cyber security cases, we here at Brightside wish to help you keep your business safe online during these uncertain times. Here we will detail risks to be more wary of, ways to ensure online security and actions to take with any new or existing cyber liability insurance policy to support any potential claims you make.
Though these types of cyber-attacks should always be considered when looking to secure your online business, the following attack types pose an increased risk to remote and/or decentralised workers:
Should any of your business’s employees fall victim to cyber-attacks such as these, the result can mean a drastically increased risk of ransomware.
Ransomware is malicious programming that can lock down entire online systems & networks and subsequently demand a ransom – usually cash – to remove. Ransomware can not only lock down the computer networks of businesses and their customers, but also encrypt or even destroy sensitive and/or valuable data within these networks.
Worse still, these types of attacks can lurk undetected within a company’s computer network for days or even years before making themselves known. It can then become difficult to pinpoint where, when and how such a cyber-attack first infiltrated your company’s systems.
It can also have a detrimental effect on your company’s reputation and financial standing down the line. Customers value the online security of companies and will be quick to jump ship should they learn that any of them have potentially risked their own personal data through a cyber-attack.
Fortunately, there are many steps that you can take to mitigate the risks of either you or your remote employees falling victim to a cyber-attack:
The last thing you want to hear in the midst of a global pandemic, is that your business has fallen foul of a cyber-attack.
Here are some of the significant areas in which cyber liability insurers have declined coverage in the past and how to avoid these potential pitfalls:
As an insurance broker, Brightside works with a range of top cyber liability insurance providers to help keep businesses like yours protected. Explore our cyber liability insurance service today, or, for more information on staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, check out our COVID-19 page