Category: Covid-19

19th Jan
2022

Cyber Crime is here to stay

The evidence that the effects of COVID-19 have made the risk level of experiencing an attack higher than ever, and the resulting costs are substantial. As we become increasingly reliant on technology, its time for businesses to take action against cybercrime before its too late.

The threat to businesses¹

Over the past 12 months, 39% of businesses have suffered from a cyberattack. While this figure is down from the previous year – due to the number of businesses closed over the pandemic – the threat level is not thought to be lower than the previous years. Among those who experienced a cyberattack over the past year almost half of businesses (49%) said this happened at least once a month. Around a quarter experienced an attack once a week.

What are the most frequent cyberattacks?

While the most common types of attack by far are phishing, staff receiving fraudulent emails or being directed to fraudulent websites, there are a number of directions in which a business may be attacked from. Other types of frequent attack include people impersonating an organisation in emails or online and viruses, spyware or malware and hacking of inline bank accounts.

The cost to businesses

While not every cyberattack will have financial repercussions for your business, if it does have a material outcome, the figure that you owe may quickly rise into the thousands. The average cost across organisations identifying any breaches or attacks is £2760.

Protect your digital assets with cyber insurance

As your broker, our top priority is ensuring that should the worst happen, your business is covered. You could expect to claim in the event that the systems that you use have been shut down, or your network has been breached. You could also potentially claim as a result of lost data via hardware e.g. your laptop, server or the devices your teams use to work remotely.  

Generally through a cyber policy you could be covered for:

Legal and defence expenses                                               Breach notifications      

Coverage for PCI DSS fines                                                 Breach mitigation

Extra expenses protection                                                   Business income

Theft of monies or securities digitally                                 Coverage for regulatory fines

Data restoration                                                                  GDPR costs incurred to the business

Third party coverage for a privacy breach or data event 

Contact the commercial team at Schofield Insurance Brokers on 0113 250377 to review your cyber risks.

¹Information extracted from the Government Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021 conducted by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport  

8th Jan
2021

Happy New Year

As we approach the start of the New Year with refreshed optimism, we want to thank all our clients for your loyalty, commitment and support.

At this time last year, nobody could have predicted what would happen, but we have to say that we admire the resilience and positivity all our clients have shown and how they have approached the changes thrust upon them.

Many of us had never heard of ‘Furlough’ or ‘Zoom’ and ‘Working from Home’ was something other people did, indeed ‘Pandemic’ was right out of a blockbuster movie.

We know from personal experience of working with smaller numbers of people in the office whilst most of our staff worked remotely from their homes, the challenges this created both from a mental and business perspective, but we have huge respect for how our colleagues managed and particularly how our clients managed and survived and, in some cases, grew stronger.

We will never look back and think 2020 was a good year, but we will look back and consider it made our Business more client focused and hopefully more relevant. We answered our client’s numerous enquiries and responded to their business needs, whether that be insurance advice or just plain and simple business advice once distilled from local and governmental updates.

As an Independent Broker, we are nothing without our clients and we remain grateful for you choosing us to handle your insurances in 2020. Unlike the majority of the Broker fraternity, we became more visible in 2020 where most hid from sight and didn’t respond to calls or indeed cover deadlines. It is clear to see 2021 will throw up further challenges for us all, but we will look forward to working with you and finding the insurance solutions you require.

We remain hopeful that the deployment of the vaccines will allow us to leave the virtual world behind us and a return to face-to-face meetings, so we are going to be optimistic that our staff are allowed to fill our calendars with real ‘face to face’ meetings this Year.

Thanks again for your loyalty, it really does mean the world to know that you choose Schofield Insurance Brokers to help you through these difficult times.

We hope you and your families stay safe and wish you all a Happy New Year.