Taking cyber insurance seriously

How cyber vulnerable do you feel? Over four in ten businesses (43 per cent) and two in ten charities (19 per cent) experienced a cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months, according to government statistics.

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Yet only three in ten businesses (27 per cent), and two in ten charities (21 per cent) have a formal cyber security policy.

When you consider that the overwhelming majority of businesses and charities are reliant on online services, if just one serious attack could close down your business, why don’t more companies take data protection, cyber ‘hygiene’ and cyber insurance more seriously?

Worcester-based Sutcliffe & Co Insurance Brokers understands these risks and specialises in cyber insurance. Determined to set an example by adopting the highest standards, the company was the first insurance broker in the UK to achieve the government’s Cyber Essentials certification - a government-backed, industry-supported scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common cyber threats.

Sutcliffe & Co also works with IASME Consortium (one of just five companies appointed as accreditation bodies for assessing and certifying against the Government's Cyber Essentials Scheme). The Sutcliffe team help IASME’s small and medium sized enterprise clients with cyber insurance after they have achieved their own Cyber Essentials accreditation. Furthermore, Sutcliffe & Co use its team’s knowledge to work with professional bodies, banks and the media to help raise awareness of the potential threats to business of cyber-attacks and ways to mitigate these risks.

You may have heard about malware or phishing attacks (malware is malicious code which steals data or destroys files on your computer. Phishing emails include links which, if clicked on by the recipient, will be able to steal a user’s information).

But have you also heard about a ‘man in the middle’ or ‘malvertising’ attacks, ‘drive-by download’ or ‘rogue software’ attacks? These are some of the most common cyber-attacks, and the ingenuity of cyber criminals is growing all the time.

With the arrival of GDPR (the General Data Protection act) in May, which has significantly strengthened the regulations around the handling, managing and storage of data, cyber insurance should now be a company’s highest priority. The cyber insurance Sutcliffe & Co can help your business with can offer wide cover, come with plenty of support if the worst happens and some policies can even help with fines under GDPR.

This highly experienced insurance company has been in business since 1984. Sutcliffe & Co has been trusted with arranging insurance for thousands of business and private clients across the UK. While the company excels in cyber security insurance, this fourth-generation family business also offers a wide range of personal and business insurance.

For more information contact Sutcliffe & Co: 01905 21681 www.sutcliffeinsurance.co.uk.