In The Age of Risk, Cyber Security Is The Leading Concern

Cyber security has emerged as the most pressing exposure for business confronting a new “age of risk,” more than the coronavirus pandemic and climate change. 

This is largely because cyber crime is so pervasive, according to Dan Glaser, the the CEO of the leading insurance broker Marsh & McLennan. “For most large multinational companies, cyber may not have been their largest exposure pre-COVID, but it’s certainly their biggest exposure now,” 

The lockdown brought in to fight the Covid-19 pandemic has seen companies become much more reliant on decentralised  systems than ever before,  something many of them were not prepared for and increasing the risk of  exposure to cyber attacks. 

As criminals targeted companies involved in the UK’s coronavirus response, experts have warned that organisations are likely to be targeted by hackers more than ever, as they seek to exploit the chaos of the on-going crisis. Small businesses are just as at risk from cyber security threats as large enterprises.

A common misconception for small businesses is the idea of security through obscurity, that your business is too small to be a target, but this is not the case. As attackers increasingly automate attacks, it’s easy for them to target hundreds, if not thousands of small businesses at once. 

• Small business often has less stringent technological defences, less awareness of threats and less time and resource to put into cybersecurity. This makes them an easier target for hackers than bigger organisations. 

• Cyber risk also is difficult for companies to deal with conclusively.

• Cultural shifts caused by technology are another top risk. Digital capabilities are “table stakes” for insurers to grow, be efficient and “delight” customers.  According to Glaser, robotics, remote working and artificial intelligence will have dramatic impact on the workplace and on culture and corporate culture is one of these risks

A recent report by Marsh & McLennan unit Oliver Wyman predicted at least another year of disruption from the pandemic, despite recent news about vaccine development. 

Ransomware also poses a very serious malware threat to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), cloud cyber security provider Datto has found. Datto's fifth annual Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report, which surveyed more than 1,000 Managed Service Providers (MSPs) on trends driving ransomware breaches, as well as the impact the virus has had on SME security. 

According to the findings, 60% of MSPs reported that their SME clients have been hit as of Q3 2020, with the average cost of downtime now 94% greater than last year. The figure was also found to be six times greater than 2018, increasing from $46,000 to $274,000. 

Even though cyber criminal activity is inevitable, organisations that use this opportunity to implement strong, secure and flexible cyber security practices will find themselves on solid footing to face the known threats of today and the unknown threats of the post-COVID world. 

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