As cybercrime increases around the world so too do the challenges faced by those looking to mitigate its effects. That’s why we asked Paul Murphy, Director at Pembroke Insurance, for his advice on how to obtain cyber insurance, from a provider’s perspective.

Cyber Insurance for SMEs: Tips from a Cyber Insurance Provider

It’s reported that the effects of cybercrime on the Irish economy surpassed €10 billion in 2022.
In the last decade, cyber-attacks on businesses have increased tenfold. Also, cybercriminals have become a lot more organised and sophisticated. It is now more important than ever for SMEs to be more vigilant about protecting themselves against cybercrime. One way to protect a business is to ensure that you have a comprehensive cybercrime insurance policy.
Cyber insurance policies help minimise the financial and reputational damage resulting from cybercrime.

Some of the threats SMEs will face today.

• Ransomware attacks
• DDOS – Denial of service attack
• Data Breach
• Invoice redirection fraud
• Staff errors (clicking on a link from a cyber-criminal)
• Reputational damage

What cover does a cyber insurance policy provide?

• Cyber Crime
• Ransomware, Computer Viruses, Denial of access (DoS)
• Fund transfer fraud
• Theft of funds held in Escrow accounts
• Identity Theft
• Extortion – ransomware
• Telephone Hacking
• Phishing Spear phishing
• Whaling
• Incident response
• Legal and regulatory costs
• IT Security and forensic costs
• Crisis communication costs
• Privacy Breach management costs
• Third-party Breach management costs

Do general business insurance policies cover any of the above?

The simple answer is no.

All general business insurance policies and professional Indemnity insurance policies will have a total cyber liability exclusion written into the wording.

Availability of cyber insurance in the markets today?

In the last 2 years, it has been more difficult to obtain cyber insurance from the cyber insurance markets. The main reason for this is the number of claims that have occurred over the last 5 years.

This has resulted in the reduction of the number of insurance providers offering cyber insurance or has reduced the cover limits the insurance providers are offering. Unless a business can show they have a good attitude to cyber security and show they have implemented relevant precautions it will be more difficult to obtain cyber insurance.

What does an insurance provider look for when quoting cyber insurance?

It will help when getting cyber insurance quotes if a business has the following in place:

• • Firewalls
  • Anti-Virus software
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Staff training
  • Patching software
  • Using up-to-date software
  • Regular back-ups and storage off-site
  • Encrypting all mobile devices
  • Have a disaster recovery plan in place

In conclusion, protecting your business from cybercrime involves proactive steps to minimise the changes of a cyber-attack on your business.