Small businesses need smart solutions. Like protection against the biggest threats you face as you operate day-to-day. One of these solutions is so critical that your business shouldn’t operate another minute without it: cyber liability protection.
Consider this: we live in an age of information. No matter what your business industry, size, or specialty, you rely on information and data to operate.
Every time you collect payment from a customer or client, every time you use a computer, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone for business purposes, every software program that tracks inventory, client information, or leads… you’re using information and data to run your business.
Which means you face multiple risks every day from savvy cyber criminals looking for ways to steal that information. Cyber attacks come in many forms, from hackers using malware attacks against the computers and software your business uses to phishing scams and even point-of-sale (POS) attacks. No matter what the method, the goal is always the same: to steal information.
Now imagine if your business was the victim of one of these attacks. Not only could your sensitive and proprietary business information be stolen, but so could your customer’s private information, including their credit card numbers, social security information, home addresses or more.
Cyber liability protection isn’t just for tech companies or for big corporations. Here are five reasons it can be the smartest solution you put in place for your business, too.
1. Small Businesses are Big Cyber Targets
When you think of data breaches, the first thing that comes to mind is most likely the well-publicized attacks on giant corporations such as Yahoo and Target. But hitting these big corporations, who have almost endless resources to spend defending against cyber attacks, takes an enormous amount of effort... and probably a little bit of luck, as well.
It’s much easier for a cyber criminal to go after a small business, instead. In fact, there’s been a steady increase in cyber attacks against small businesses in the past five years.
2. Small Businesses Aren’t Prepared for Cyber Threats
Even when they realize how real the threat of a cyber attack can be, most small businesses don’t have a plan in place to prevent or recover from one. A survey of small business owners revealed that 78% of respondents didn’t have a response plan to deal with a cyber attack.
In addition, 68% of small business owners expressed concern over their ability to handle a cyber attack if it happened to them.
That means the majority of small businesses aren’t prepared and wouldn’t know how to handle a cyber attack… does that sound like you?
3. Cyber Attacks are Costly and Disruptive
A Kaspersky report on the cost of security breaches revealed that small businesses spend an average of $38,000 - $46,000 on direct and indirect costs to recover from a security breach.
The three biggest consequences of a breach include:
- Loss of access to business-critical information
- Damage to company reputation
- Temporary loss of ability to trade
In about a third of incidences, a cyber breach leads to downtime and lost business opportunities, which often becomes the most expensive consequence of an attack. The average time a small business spends in recovering from a cyber attack is a month.
4. Cyber Breaches Close Some Businesses Down Permanently
Could your business afford close to $50,000 in damages and a month of downtime as it recovered from a cyber attack? Not everyone can. For some businesses, a single cyber incident could be the incident that shuts the doors for good.
The U.S’ National Cyber Security Alliance found that 60% of small companies are unable to sustain their businesses over six months after a cyber attack.
5. Cyber Liability Protection Offers a Smart Solution to Cyber Threats
There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Small businesses do have solutions to the very real threat of cyber attacks. One of these solutions is to insure your business against this threat with cyber liability insurance.
Cyber liability insurance is your disaster preparedness plan in the event of a data breach or other cyber attack. It can help you with the high costs associated with an attack, including lost income and recovery costs. Cyber liability also can help with the costs involved with notifying your clients that their personal information may have been exposed, offering credit monitoring services, and reputation repair after a hack.
And if one of these clients decides to bring a lawsuit against your business for not properly securing their sensitive information (a very realistic consequence of a data breach), cyber insurance can help you cover the litigation costs, as well.
You don’t have to hire an entire team of IT security professionals to help you defend your business. Just like other aspects of your business, you can find smart solutions to help protect you from cyber threats. Cyber liability protection can be one of the smartest moves you make in a technologically advanced world where criminals are more likely to break in via your network than your front door.