Eight per cent of business premises experienced at least one type of online crime during the past 12 months according to a Review of Evidence gathered by The Home Office.
The report also highlights that the costs of cyber crime in Britain could be several billion pounds per year.British business need to protect itself against the costs and disruption of online crime more than ever according to Trevor Moss, Director, Brunel Professional Risks. “A hacking incident, virus attack or loss of data can seriously damage a business, leading to loss of revenue and client relationships,” he said. “Most business insurance excludes cover for cyber-losses, but specialist cyber-liability insurance can give businesses the financial resources to get back up and running quickly after an incident. Many include access to specialist IT resources to recover lost data and improve security.”
Sales of cyber-liability insurance have shot up by over 30{0a6a65c996ed4169444354e707b897cdb00dbefc1d0429e8febb9bf11027ba53} in the United States following a number of high profile attacks according to a report in the Financial Times. These included a security breach at retailer Target in which 40 million debit and credit card accounts were hacked according to USA Today. The UK government is also acutely aware of the risk and recently launched a new guide giving practical advice to the corporate finance sector. The guide urges companies to make cyber-security a higher priority during transactions said accountants’ professional body, ICAEW.
“We believe the US experience is likely to be repeated in the UK and we anticipate strong growth in cyber-liability insurance policies in the UK,” said Trevor Moss. Brunel Professional Risks can advise its professional services clients on cyber-liability insurance cover and risk reduction measures.
