In October 2013, Adobe first reported that hackers had stolen nearly 3 million customer credit card records and login data for a yet unknown number of accounts. After a few weeks, the company raised the estimate to include IDs and passwords for 38 million users and that there appeared to have more than 150 million username- password pairs were stolen.
The hack was found to have exposed customer names, IDs, passwords, and card information.
After a long and painful litigation, in August 2015, Adobe had to pay $1.1 million in legal fees. The company also had to pay $1 million to affected users to settle claims of breaching the Customer Records Act and unfair business practices.
Yahoo suffered data breaches in 2013 and 2014 – what would be the most significant data breach in history. The attackers compromised the real names, email ads, birthdates, security questions, and phone numbers of 3 billion users.
The breaches knocked an estimated $350 million off the value of the company.
Recently, the Australian graphic design tool Canva, in 2019, suffered an attack that exposed cities of residence, usernames, email ads, names, and salted and passwords of 137 million users.
Data loss is an existing threat to your business, and it can cost you a massive amount of loss of value. Whatever business you are in, you have data stored in clouds or your hard drive, and they can be compromised.
You will need data loss insurance coverage if you are to recover from cyber breaches.
What does data loss insurance entail, and how can you see to it that you have the right protection?
Beware of cybercrime
All business handles sensitive data, be it special ingredients, a recipe, a unique system, or design. All intellectual property today is represented by data.
Data is one of your business’s most crucial assets, and you must implement security measures to protect you from potential hacks and data loss. You need sufficient data security and insurance, especially if your business holds customers’ personal data.
Hackers seek to steal personal information for fraudulent use. Bank account information, customer data, social security numbers, and credit card information are appealing targets for cybercriminals.
When this vital data is breached, you will face liability claims against your company by your users, and your business’s reputation will be at serious risk.
Every business today needs data loss insurance and protection.
Data Loss Insurance – what is it, and what does it entail?
Data loss insurance is a policy created to protect and support a company if it falls victim to a cyber-attack. The insurance policy provides detailed cover in the event of a claim that relates to a malicious breach of data or cyber-attack.
Data loss insurance policies offer protection if a hacker holds your business to ransom. The insurer can cover the ransom that you are forced to pay the hacker and help you manage the entire situation.
This insurance also offers practical support for when a cyberattack happens to your business. The policy should provide legal advice and forensic investigations while also sending notifications to clients and regulators and support to affected users, including credit card monitoring.
When a cyberattack targets a business’s systems, effectively preventing the company from earning revenue, the business might experience a significant income loss. Data loss insurance should provide compensation for such loss and damage to the business’s reputation.
Here are 10 Actionable Tips for Data Protection
- Keep your software updated.
- Set up passwords for all of your computer networks.
- Encrypt your data.
- Use antivirus software.
- Only transact with accredited online stores.
- Implement a VPN or Virtual Private Network.
- Use Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 or WPA2
- Invest in premium software for storing and distributing files.
- Hire an IT team to implement security measures.
- Acquire data loss insurance & legal help.
Keep your software updated
Your operating system update not only smoothens your computer’s functions and removes bugs, but it installs critical security updates and vulnerability patches that protect you from malware and viruses.
Set up passwords for all of your computer networks
Every computer in your office must have unique passwords that you must update at least once a month. Switching can slow down hackers who are trying to decrypt your passwords to breach your network.
Encrypt your data
There are many available encryption tools that can ensure that your data will remain unreadable and safe. If hackers access your data, they won’t be able to use the information because of encryption.
Use antivirus software
Viruses protect your computer from malware, viruses, and cybercrime. Antivirus software runs diagnostics on your data, including filer, web pages, software, and others that travel over the network to your device.
Antivirus software searches for threats and monitors the behavior of all programs. When it senses suspicious behavior, it flags the element in question.
Antivirus software is your baseline protection from cybercrime and data loss.
Only transact with accredited online stores.
Do not transact with stores or services that are not verified by online security providers. Ensure that you are sending information only over to websites accredited by Norton, McAfee, TRUSTe, and others.
Implement a VPN or Virtual Private Network.
With a Virtual Private Network, you will have an off-shore IP address, and it will be hard for hackers to track your digital footprint. Use tools like NordVPN, SurfShark, ExpressVPN, and others.
There are excellent options for trusted VPNs.
Use Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 or WPA2
Using WPA2 ensures that only authorized users can access your wireless networks.
Invest in premium software for storing and distributing files.
Use paid and premium cloud software or SaaS like Dropbox, JustCloud, pCloud, SpiderOak, IDrive, etc. Pick among the topmost trusted software for storing and sharing files.
Hire an IT team to implement security measures.
Hire information technology experts that you can trust so that your company can have its own IT department. An IT team will give your business active defense strategies that will significantly reduce your likelihood of experiencing data loss.
Acquire data loss insurance & legal help.
Place the ultimate contingency of insurance for data loss protection. The best way to obtain insurance that will guarantee excellent service when you claim for data loss is by hiring an expert insurance litigation lawyer’s assistance.
While insurance companies promise massively, they could deliver otherwise. Delivering your claims means a loss for them, and so they will try to lessen or deny what they owe you.
An insurance attorney who knows how insurers play technical to disservice you will prevent loopholes from being planted in your policy. When you need to claim, a lawyer can help you push through and receive your entitled insurance.
Data is gold in our digital world. Businesses and even individuals have to place protective measures to keep what is theirs safe.
All of your company’s intellectual property, trade secrets, inventions, and creations, in addition to sensitive customer information, are represented in data. If this information is breached, you are in for a massive loss.
Protect your data.
