Cybercrime is an ongoing threat, which severely increased over the past few years. You might think that the only form of cybercrime you must worry about is hackers stealing your financial Information. But, it may not be so simple. There are far more concerns than just basic financial ones. Cybercrime continues to evolve, with new threats surfacing every year. What if someone gained access to your smart home, the personal information on your computer, your phone or even your wearable? More and more criminals are accessing data and personal information, while demanding money or threatening to sell the information.
According to the 2019 edition of “Terrifying Cybercrime and
Cybersecurity Statistics & Trends”, global cybercrime damages are predicted
to cost up to $6 trillion annually by 2021. In 2018, there were 137.5 million
malware attacks registered. A frightening 81% of all surveyed organizations in
South Africa were comprised by a successful cyber-attack in 2018 and almost
two-thirds of the IT security professionals surveyed believe a successful cyber
attack is imminent in 2019.
MOST OF US ARE CONNECTED ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!
The latest statistics identified the following major types of
cybercrime:
- Phishing Scams: a cybercriminal attempting to obtain sensitive/personal information from a computer user.
- Identity Theft Scams: the identity of a real person is being used by someone else to obtain personal information, without consent, to commit a crime or to deceive or defraud.
- Hacking: the unauthorized access to data in a system or computer
- Password Attack: the recovering of a password from data stored in, or transmitted by, a computer system.
- Internet Fraud: the type of fraud that uses the internet, often involving the hiding of information or the providing of incorrect information to trick victims out of money, peoperty and inheritance.
When you hear and read about the range of cybercrimes out there,
you might be tempted to stop using the internet
entirely. That’s probably too drastic. Instead, it’s a good idea to know how to
recognize cybercrime, which can be the first step to help protect yourself and
your data. Taking some basic precautions and knowing whom to contact when you see
others engaged in criminal activities online are also important steps.
Data leaks and data losses can lead to regulatory fines and PR
nightmares, while attacks could lead to the shut-down of servers and loss of
both confidence and profits. Technology is an expanding part of our daily
lives, anyone connected to the internet or using connected devices should
contemplate for cyber insurance. You may want to learn how to prevent
cybercrime, but here’s the thing: You can’t. You can, however, take precautions
to help protect against it.
What is Cyber Insurance?
In layman terms, Cyber Insurance is used to protect businesses and
individuals from Internet-based cyber risks, and, more broadly, from risks that
are related to information technology infrastructure. Many small business
owners may think that this type of insurance is only required by big companies.
But the truth is, there are thousands of small businesses which are handling
sensitive information that could potentially be exposed, leaving them liable.
Any business that handles sensitive information over the internet is at risk.
As cyber breaches are increasingly common, cyber insurance will grow to be just
as vital to all mankind.
What does Cyber Insurance Cover?
We can distinguish two types of cyber insurance covers: Commercial
and Personal. Commercial cyber Insurance coverage protects your business from a
variety of cyber security breach claims and lawsuits, whereas Personal cyber
insurance coverage protects you and members of your household from losses
resulting from certain cyber-attacks. There are many types of solutions
available, which can address both commercial and personal needs and can range
from end-to-end cyber event handling to business interruption during network
failure and protecting reputations. The list of solutions is by no means
exhaustive and we strongly advice you to seek the guidance of a Minet insurance
professional in choosing the right cyber crime insurance for you, your family
and your business.
Melanie Lambert ǀ Manager – Personal Lines
and Claims ǀ Minet Namibia
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