When it rains, it pours. That can best describe today’s challenging times. Besides causing a global disruption, the Covid-19 outbreak has significantly changed the cyber security threat landscape.
Here’s a fun fact. Did you know that the phrase, “when it rains, it pours” originated from the Morton Salt Company, as they used it as their slogan to sell salt. They promoted that their salt was free flowing even in rainy weather.
Indeed, even in today’s rainy weather, cyber attacks are still free flowing and hackers have drastically heightened their efforts. They typically prey on their victims shortly after a disaster or worldly event, whether it is for financial gains or for the thrill they get for causing more disruptions in an already challenging moment. This certainly explains why we’re seeing a rampage of Covid-19 related cyber attacks.
With more workers working from home, and hackers already working at home 24/7, businesses and organizations are not able to catch a break and must stay vigilant and make sure they’re following best cyber security practices and have plans in place to respond to incidents when they occur.
Let’s recap some of the recent Covid-19 cyber threats and incidents:
- SBA revealed a potential data breach impacting 8,000 emergency business loan applicants.
- Marriott was hit with their second major data breach in just two years.
- San Francisco airport had their windows passwords stolen in a recent cyber attack.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that they have seen a fivefold increase in cyber attacks.
- Hospitals are busy treating Covid-19 patients and bracing for an increase in cyber attacks. Many hospitals have seen an increase in ransomware attacks as hackers seek to maximize their profits.
- The U.S. Departments of State, the Treasury, and Homeland Security, and the FBI issued a joint advisory alert providing guidance on the North Korean cyber threat. The guidance highlights the cyber crime threat posed by North Korea, particularly the significant threat to the integrity and stability of the international financial system. North Korea cyber actors develop and deploy a wide range of malware tools around the world to enable cyber theft activities and have grown increasingly sophisticated. The advisory alert provides measures to counter the cyber threat. Such as raising awareness in your organization and promoting adoption and implementation of appropriate preventative and risk mitigation measures. Adopting measures, both technical and behavioral to enhance your organization’s cyber security will help make your network more secure and resilient.
There many businesses and organizations today that have a cyber insurance policy in place to help respond to a cyber security incident.
While many have purchased cyber insurance, there are surprisingly still many others that haven’t. As you may imagine, there are many cyber insurance claims that are being processed during and due to the escalated cyber security threats arising from the Covid-19 global outbreak.
When your incident occurs, will you have a cyber insurance policy to turn to when the unfortunate happens? If so, better posed, will you have the right cyber insurance policy in place to respond when the unfortunate happens?
Cyber insurance is no longer something your organization can operate without. In the event of an incident, the right cyber insurance policy can make all the difference.
Do you need help with obtaining cyber insurance quotes for your company or organization? As experienced cyber insurance brokers, we can help your company or organization obtain multiple cyber insurance policy options and help make sense of the various coverage offerings.