As we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations and their teams are moving from a traditional workplace culture to a more fluid working environment.

As many companies adopt work-from-home policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cyber Security is a growing issue as Cyber Criminals seek to exploit Coronavirus, targeting companies and individuals.

Cyber Criminals are sophisticated in how they access your data, records, servers and networks.

Cyber liability insurance provides protection against the costs inflicted by Cyber Crimes including: hacking, cyber theft, denial of service, ransom attacks and data breach. The cost implications from an attack for the business can be covered, as well as the liability to third parties and potentially any fines associated with the breach of data.

Cyber attacks take organisations by surprise, especially if there is no response plan in place.

On 27 March, Mr Karl Hanmore acting Head Australian Cyber Security Centre, comments that 145 cyber crime incidents are reported with self-reposted losses to be just under $1 million per day. He reports that currently, a global criminal ecosystem (consisting of criminal graphic designed and software developed) build viruses that attack multiple online platforms.

Hanmore advises that these experienced criminals have attempted to send COVID-19 warnings and mirror government communications in order to obtain personal and company information and exploit individuals and businesses.

The transition from the status quo has a less obvious yet significant impact on an organisation’s Cyber Security Risk Management. It is imperative to maintain the security of your organisation's valuable data and prevent costly disruptions.

Here's how businesses and employees can protect themselves online. 3 simple steps:

1. Allow Network Access Only to:
2. Virtual private networks (VPNs) that are promptly patched as soon as updates become available; and
3. Devices with full disk encryption;
4. Implementation of multi-factor authentication.
5. Communicate with employees:
6. Raise awareness of heightened risks that will arise from criminal activity taking advantage of the COVID-19 crisis;
7. Ensure all hardware kept on their person cannot be physically accessed when in public places; and
8. Provide “log off protocols” updates and education regularly.

Your dedicated team at Gow-Gates Insurance Brokers can guide you safely through the recovery process. Insurance policies may pay for forensic investigators to provide assistance and advice from the moment you suspect a cyber attack to the completion of a claim.At Gow-Gates we are consistently available to respond during your times of need, which is what separates us from our competitors.

Our 5 step solution from incident to recovery

1. Organisation suffers a cyber attack;
2. Notify Gow-Gates of incident;
3. Organisation notifies insurer of incident via Cyber notification app – within one minute of doing so, you will receive a call from a consultant at our Incident Response Centre;
4. Response management – within one hour of reporting an incident, your organisation will be contacted by an Incident Response Manager; and
5. Recovery – with an expert panel of vendors working to contain the incident, the Incident Response Team will support you through the recovery of your business activities.

Gow-Gates Insurance Brokers advises that persons should not act on the material contained in this article as the items are of a general nature only and may be misinterpreted. We therefore recommend that advice be sought before acting in these areas.