Top Four Cyber Threats Impacting Businesses 

A growing digital age means more opportunities for cyberhackers to attack individuals and businesses, both big and small. The consequences of losing sensitive information during a data breach can range from lengthy business interruptions to significant financial losses. However, cyber liability insurance can help minimize the damage by protecting you from these threats. 

Discover some of the top cyber-attacks that hackers are carrying out and how you can protect yourself in this helpful guide. 

Ransomware Attacks

More often than not, hackers use money as their motivation. One of the most damaging types of cyber-attacks is ransomware since hackers will gain control over accounts and demand money from users before relinquishing the account. Major companies that fall victim to ransomware attacks can lose huge amounts of money to meet the demands of their hackers. 

Having a cyber liability insurance policy that covers this form of attack is crucial since the impacted business or individual won’t have to suffer the financial loss of recovering from the attack. 

Data Breaches

An extensive data breach can cause unprecedented damage to any business that handles sensitive information, such as banking institutions or e-commerce sites. Even a fast incident response time won’t be enough to make up for the invasive nature of this threat. 

Say a hacker uncovers the payment information of an online merchant’s customers. With their information in the wrong hands, those people are now susceptible to identity theft.

In this case the business would need an insurance policy with third-party liability coverage. First-party coverage protects companies from direct losses due to an attack, such as paying ransom to a hacker. Third-party liability takes care of the damages others face from the incident. 

Many corporations at the center of a large data breach spend inordinate amounts of time and money boosting their reputation. Most cyber insurance policies include the cost of expensive public relations campaigns so that businesses can regain customer loyalty after an alarming attack. 

Phishing 

Malicious actors use phishing threats to trick people into giving out their sensitive Information. They may send emails pretending to be someone else or include bad links or attachments that impact the computer system. 

Preventive measures like multi-factor authentication and teaching employees to follow a cybersecurity policy may help mitigate the risk of phishing, social engineering fraud, and other attacks. However, businesses will have much more robust protection with a specific insurance policy covering cyber-crimes. 

Keep in mind that some insurance policies do not cover financial losses due to employee misconduct or poor security measures. Therefore, it’s vital to inform all employees about the proper ways to behave online and make sure they recognize and report the signs of a phishing email, such as:

• Fake or incorrect links or email addresses
• Excessive spelling errors
• Messages demanding urgent action, especially if it’s about providing financial information

Artificial Intelligence 

The business world relies more heavily than ever on artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve operations. However, cybercriminals are making artificial intelligence the basis for emerging attacks. Cyber insurance companies are constantly evaluating new threats every year to help determine what their policies should cover. 

If a cybersecurity assessment finds cyber-attacks are rising due to hackers manipulating machines and AI systems, the company is more likely to include this coverage in its policies. Businesses greatly benefit from holding this type of insurance since AI is still relatively new, and there are several ways hackers can use it against victims. 

Invest in Cyber Insurance for Your Business 

Now that you know the many threats that are looming, why not protect your business from dangerous cyber activity? Gilsbar offers cyber insurance and innovative solutions so you can run your business without fear of cyber-attacks and their fallout. Click here to speak with a specialist about how you can benefit from this insurance policy.