Articles

Cyber-attacks are on the increase

With more people working from home, it is more critical than ever before to ensure you have the correct and adequate IT protection in place. Criminal activity is varied and can have a massive impact on your charity and to your service users and customers.

Many charities may assume that they have transferred their liabilities and risk when their data is in a cloud provider’s hands. In most cases this is not the position and there is little protection in terms of liability with your cloud providers.

In a recent webinar we hosted, a question was raised regarding mitigating the need for cyber protections due to cloud based services being purchased.  Provided that you have systems, policies and procedures in place to keep data secure, using the cloud as a backup option is suitable and provides benefits to re-instate data and potentially defeat ransomware demands, which are increasing.

Certain things that you may need to consider when using a cloud-based service, however, include:

·       Who has the access and authority to modify backups?

·       How secure are your backups, could a ransomware attack overwrite previous backups, have you ensured your Cloud provider keeps multiple versions of backed up data?

·       What support will your cloud provider provide in the event of an attack?

·       Will your cloud provider accept responsibility for attacks via their systems?

·       Do you have client or other service providers software on your systems, is this clear to your cloud provider and are there any additional terms or restrictions from a third-party perspective?

·       Does your cloud provider have multi-factor authentication to protect backups?

Such steps should assist to mitigate the risk of ransomware and other cyber-attacks. It is essential that you manage data as securely and as closely as you would if this was stored on your own systems. There are also Information Commissioner and GDPR issues around data that is sensitive or personal that is then made public: this is still your risk and liability.

Insurance protections

Cyber insurance can help protect your charity against a range of cyber threats and exposures, including cybercrime, data breaches and system interruption.

Top activity areas for cyber-criminal include:

·       Ransomware

·       Phishing

·       Data leakage

·       Hacking

·       Insider threat

Cover can now be purchased to protect against GDPR, as part of a cyber protection policy.

How can we assist?

Towergate Insurance are actively engaging with Insurers and our clients to ensure cyber protection for charities of all sizes, to protect against the very real and growing threats of the digital age.

To find out more about how we can assist you or advise on market updates you can call us James Anscombe on 07973784006 or email [email protected]