‘Learn from cyber attacks’

“THE RECENT breach that saw the details of tens of millions of South Africans exposed has highlighted how unprepared the country is when it comes to such attacks”

This is according to Simon Campbell-Young, chief executive of MyCyberCare, who pointed out that while no one would wish for the high-profile breaches that fill the news on a weekly basis, they do present a real opportunity for insurance brokers to educate their customers on what is becoming a crucial area to cover – cyber attacks.

Campbell-Young said too many attacks went unnoticed for months while the malicious software snoops around the network, looking for and infiltrating specific targets.

In addition to that, many businesses don’t train their staff on how to avoid a breach and what to do in the event of one. “Businesses are underestimating the cyber threat. They are hugely vulnerable.”

According to Campbell-Young, breaches were more than inconvenient.

“Aside from business downtime, loss of data, regulatory fines and damaged systems, the cost of a cyber event can run into the millions.

“This is without factoring in the damage to reputation, loss of customer confidence and loss of future business.”

Thousands of new pieces of malware are written every day. Advanced persistent threats get more and more cunning, widening the attack surface and finding new ways into the network. Ransomware had soared, becoming one of the most widespread tools used by cyber criminals to extort money from their victims, he added.

“Cyber attacks go way beyond data breaches, and so do the risks associated with them. Businesses need to sit up and take notice. Those who aren’t covered for these eventualities run the risk of closing their doors.

“I think South African businesses are waking up to the magnitude of the security problem.”

Campbell-Young said brokers shouldn’t just try to push a cyber insurance product on their clients, but should offer a full service, offering advice as well as pure insurance.