Protect your firm from the effects of a cyber breach

Technology

It is becoming increasingly apparent that it is no longer a case of if, but when you may become a victim of cybercrime.

Promoted by Accountancy Insurance • 11 October 2022 • 3 minute read

Close to 10 million individuals around Australia have been impacted by the recent Optus data leak. It's a demonstration of how a data breach can happen so suddenly and to anyone - even an organisation with the data security resources that Optus has.

Although it might seem like this only happens to big business, it impacts smaller businesses just as easily.

Not only can a cyber breach cause major disruption to your business, but the costs also involved on your operations, reporting and reputation can be substantial which are covered under a cyber insurance policy.

Now is the time to ramp up your cyber security.

Regardless of the size of your business. It is becoming increasingly apparent that it is no longer a case of if but when you may become a victim of cybercrime.

It happens more frequently than you might think.

In 2022, a ransomware attack occurred every 11 seconds. Last year, the ransomware industry shot up to $20 billion.

Preparation is key.

Businesses should assess their preparedness for a cybercrime incident and review their response and business continuity plans including cyber insurance.

With Cyber Shield you can be protected against the results of a cyber attack.

In the event of a cyber attack, Cyber Shield will provide comprehensive insurance cover for:

> Theft of data
> Extortion threats (Ransom demands)
> Loss of business income
> Restoration costs
> Security and privacy breaches
> Legal obligations
> Plus more!

Cyber Shield will not prevent a cyber attack however it should be seen as an additional layer to your security process.

We can easily provide you with an indicative quote, all we need from you is:

Profession (Accounting/Financial Planning or both)
Number of staff
Turnover
Which State you operate in
What limit of indemnity you require ($250k, $500k, $1M, or $2M)

To help protect your firm and save you money, we offer competitive premiums. Simply contact our team for a quote.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Our tips to ensure your network is secure against cybercrime.

Insurance should be seen as an additional layer to your security process, not an alternative. Tips to help improve security:

Make sure operating systems and security patches are up to date.
Apply multi-factor authentication.
Regularly backup and store those backups offline.
Create complex passwords; always upload the Apple or Android security updates.
Have a stand alone cyber insurance (Cyber Shield) policy.

Reporting a breach.

Rather than trying to hide a breach, today most companies will come out and say something like:

We have experienced a ransomware attack. Here’s what we’re doing to contain it, remediate it, protect consumer information, and this is how we’re planning to strengthen our systems going forward to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Case Study.

You might think cybercrime won’t affect you, and so do other accounting firms – but it could! Read a real life example of an accounting firm, just like yours, which suffered at the hands of cybercrime (as provided by Cyber Shield underwriters, Nova Underwriting):

Close to the end of a financial quarter when client BAS Statements were due to be lodged, an accounting firm suffered a breach when a staff member opened an email attachment, which unbeknown to them was infected with malware. The virus spread immediately, slowing down the system and damaging all data the firm held.

Unfortunately, the accountant only backed up their files every 48 hours. Subsequently they lost 2 days of data and suffered significant business interruption as a result of not having their systems back up and running at full capacity for 2 weeks.

Conclusion: The total costs incurred in this case were close to $144,300. Fortunately, Cyber Shield covers cases like this plus many other cybercrime related incidences. Read more cybercrime case studies affecting Australian accounting firms: