What is a Cyberattack and How to Protect Against It?

Transportation and logistics service providers, and mostly all companies large and small, are suffering business disruptions due to cyberattacks. A single email sent by a hacker to an unsuspecting and trusting individual — if opened by mistake —  can compromise the operations of an entire company.

Every company is vulnerable and it’s only smart to take precautions and make contingency plans against cyberattacks.

 

What is a Cyberattack?

A cyberattack is a proactive targeting and attack of a company’s computer information systems, technology infrastructure, network or personal computers and devices. The attacker is a person or group with malicious intent that intends to access data and technology functions without authorization.

 

How to Defend Against a Cyber Attack?

There are several ways to defend your company and colleagues against a cyberattack. Below are the most important methods from the Department of Homeland Security.

1. Never click on links in emails.
2. Never open attachments.
3. Never give out personal information.

While this is great advice, it’s hard to conduct business without doing any of the above. That being said, how can you protect your company?

 

How to Protect My Company?

One such plan is to include Cyber Coverage as part of your business insurance portfolio. While it won’t prevent the cyberattack from occurring, it will provide resources, support and compensation to get you back in business.

 

A Cyber Claim Illustration

A client of Roanoke Trade recently discovered that their systems had been infected with a ransomware virus. Even though their IT team was notified quickly, their system was still compromised. In total, eight devices were infected with ransomware. To get back to normal business operations, the servers had to be rebuilt and the data restored from a back-up by a team of technical specialists.

Fortunately, a forensic analysis concluded that no data was accessed and withdrawn by the attacker. However, the efforts of the IT team and specialists, and general downtime resulted in a loss of company productivity and real dollars.

Our client filed a claim under their Roanoke policy and the underwriters determined that this “computer attack” qualified as a covered loss under their Cyber Suite Coverage attached to their Errors and Omissions policy.

The client received a payment from the underwriters of $22,210 after paying their $1,000 deductible. The business was back in business following this disruption. However, it could have gone in the opposite direction without the support of tech experts and Roanoke.

 

Please CLICK HERE to get the PDF of this situation to share with your colleagues.

 

Roanoke Trade, a division of Roanoke Insurance Group, Inc. and part of Munich Re Specialty Group Ltd., operates as a specialty insurance broker focused on surety and insurance solutions for logistics service providers and companies with supply chains. Years of dedicated focus and responsive service have earned us the recognition as a trusted provider of customs bonds, marine cargo insurance and ATA Carnets for the industry.