Hacking is the most commonly talked about method of data breach but many stem from everyday causes such as a lost or stolen laptop, an employee visits a website containing malware or accidently shares sensitive information. Just think how easy it is to send an email to the wrong person through the auto-fill features that your email system uses.

If your business processes or holds personal information on your employees, customers or contractors, you're likely to have a cyber-risk. Ask yourself, what would you do if your data was lost, stolen, altered or destroyed? How could you protect yourself?  

What cyber threats are out there?

Cyber in simple terms is the threat or harm to internet services, computer networks and information. As virtually all businesses nowadays depend on their digital technology and information to run their day-to-day affairs, a single successful cyber-attack could have a serious impact on your business.

How can businesses manage Cyber risk?

  • Ensure your staff have appropriate cyber security training, so that everyone understands their role in keeping the business secure.
  • Put in place a "bringing your own device to work" policy if you allow employees to use their own devices to access and store company information.
  • Look at contracts with third party vendors providing you data storage. How do they store your data and what are they liable for if your data is breached?

How could cyber cover help your business?

Aviva Cyber cover pays for the expenses after a breach has occurred; forensic investigation experts and remedial costs, mailing costs to people impacted by a breach or being able to offer your customers credit monitoring to detect problems that may arise from a breach.

You might think you need to have big cover limits but a lower limit may be adequate if you're a small business. Premiums start from just £50 for a £25,000 cover limit. How much cover you need depends on the size of your business and the type and amount of data your business manages. Higher limits are also available for larger businesses that handle a lot of sensitive data. You can add things like business interruption cover (losses resulting from a denial of service attack) or third party liability protection arising from the misuse of private information.

But it's not just about covering the expenses - it's ensuring you know what to do when a data breach occurs. Being able to respond quickly is critical to limit the amount of data lost and minimising the damage to your business's reputation. That's why we provide customers taking Cyber cover access to data breach experts IDT911 to help you prepare for the unexpected and manage any issues in the event of a data loss or breach.

To find out more about cyber cover from Aviva, just contact your insurance broker.