Covid-19 has had a significant impact across the globe and the business landscape has had to adapt quickly to catch up with the changing environment. Businesses have been forced to implement swift changes, such as making way for sudden working from home capability. While this has meant that businesses have been able to continue to operate during the pandemic, it has also left the business community vulnerable to cyber risks.

Cyber-crime, which is the use of computer or online networks to carry out crimes such as fraud and identity theft, was on the rise even before Covid-19 due to the increasingly digital business landscape. However, the global pandemic has exposed new vulnerabilities as businesses have been forced to move quickly to create new home working environments. This has created vulnerabilities that cyber criminals are keen to exploit.

Now that many businesses have been operating for some time under the new changes which have been brought about by Covid-19, the focus must be on becoming more aware of cyber risk exposures and making changes to mitigate these risks.

Identifying cyber risks

For businesses to successfully navigate the changing business landscape that has come with Covid-19, it’s essential to identify the emerging cyber risks so steps can be taken to prevent them. Factors such as the massive increase in working from home arrangements, cloud based computing systems and an increased demand for online retail have all impacted on cyber security for businesses. There is no question that the potential for cyber-crime has increased during Covid-19 and this could be due to multiple risk issues such as people connecting to an unsecured network, downloading content which was not secure, or engaging with unfamiliar websites. To ensure that the risk of cyber crime can be reduced, businesses need to be aware of the vulnerabilities that Covid-19 have exposed.

The ongoing impact

To address the ongoing cyber risks that businesses face as the result of Covid-18, a full risk assessment should be carried out in the first instance. This should include consideration of what digital practices have changed in the face of Covid-19 to see if risk mitigation steps need to be taken. How have your data storage practices changed? What security measures are in place for employees working from home? How secure is your network? Measures can then be taken to address these risks such as ensuring that employees use secure passwords and having appropriate cyber security measures in place, such as anti-virus software and firewalls. Ongoing reviews should be undertaken to further identify and prioritise risk responses to ensure that cyber risks are continually addressed.

These cyber risk management measures will be increasingly important going forward as businesses increasingly embrace flexible working arrangements which allow employees to work from home.

The importance of cyber insurance

While there are actionable steps that businesses can make to lessen the potential impact of cyber-crime, there are some situations which cannot be prevented. To this end, cyber insurance can protect against the financial implications to your business, your customers and other parties following a cyber security breach. This could include scenarios such as loss of income due to business interruption, liability following third party loss, defence of legal claims, the cost of covering or replacing records or data, and crisis management and monitoring. Cyber insurance is designed to cover expenses, business losses, business interruption, and fines and penalties should a data breach happen to a business.

For more information about cyber insurance, speak with your insurance broker today.