Protect Your Small Business from Cyber Attacks

The number of small and medium-sized businesses that go out of business within six months of a cyber attack is as much as 60%, according to the National Cyber Security Alliance. Their research also found that over 70% of cyber attackers deliberately target small businesses, and almost half of small businesses have already experienced a cyber attack.

Perhaps Ginni Rometty, Chairperson, President and CEO of IBM considered those statistics when she said, “…cybercrime, by definition, is the greatest threat to every profession, every industry, every company in the world.”

An even more surprising statistic was uncovered in a recent survey of hundreds of small business owners from coast to coast by Futurpreneur Canada partner, TruShield Insurance. The survey found that 77% don’t have cyber insurance.

Surprising indeed when you consider the risk. If cyber attackers gain access to your computer or network, they could steal employee, financial or customer data. All customer data is worth protecting equally because hackers and other criminals don’t need financial information to seriously damage a person’s finances.

If a cyber-criminal obtains credit card information, odds are the card gets cancelled quickly. However, what if that same hacker got access to names, emails and home addresses, then checked online sources such as social media sites to gather enough personal information to commit identity theft? That kind of crime can take victims years to recover from.

If a customer’s private information was stolen during a data breach, they might not do business with you again, or worse – might launch a cyber lawsuit against you.

The reality is that any business, regardless of their size or resources, can be a few mouse clicks from a cyber attack. That’s why TruShield introduced a new Cyber Insurance Package which provides Futurpreneur Canada member businesses with 1st Party Cyber Coverage to a limit of $50,000 for all combined cyber risk occurrences.

When any Futurpreneur Canada member purchases a TruShield business insurance policy, they will receive the Cyber Insurance Package – a $100 per year value – at no extra cost.

Coverage can help protect their businesses from the following expenses associated with computer hacks and data breaches:

• Incident response expenses: reasonable and necessary costs that may be incurred when reaching out to your clients whose private information was breached during a cyber attack. This includes costs to procure one year of identity restoration and credit monitoring services for each of your valued clients whose information was compromised.
• Data recovery expenses: reasonable and necessary costs associated with the replacement or restoration of data that is lost due to a network security incident, such as a cyber attack or breach.
• Business interruption coverage: covers any loss of income that results directly from an interruption to your services caused by a network security incident, because chances are you may not be able to return to your normal operations immediately following a cyber attack.
• E-commerce extortion expenses: provides reimbursement for expenses that result from an e-commerce extortion threat for up to $5,000, because sometimes hackers will demand a ransom in order for you to regain control of your network or system.

Call centre support is available to help respond to any inquiries your clients may have regarding your computer hack and data breach.

Cyber insurance protection is available at no extra cost to Futurpreneur Canada member businesses.

For complete details on TruShield’s Cyber Insurance Package call toll-free: 1.844.285.6687 or visit online: TruShield.ca/futurpreneur.

As the digital world continues to grow and evolve, the threat of cyber attacks and data breaches grows with it. And the smaller your business is, the worse the implications of a loss from cybercrime.

Futurpreneur Canada members; take this risk seriously and protect yourself from being among the 60% that won’t survive a cyber attack. Protect what you’re working so hard to build.

Article provided by TruShield Insurance.