Cyber Threats: are you covered?

In October last year we spoke about why cyber insurance is essential for your business’s success. At that stage of the year, the Liberty Holdings data breech was still on going, with the after effects rippling through the most part of the year. This data breech is still on going in its case, with the hackers holding the data at ransom, leaving Liberty Holdings with the ball in their court.

In an article published by fin24.com, they noted that according to Kerry Curtin, a cyber risk expert at Aon South Africa, that all South African businesses, including educational institutions, have been particularly hard hit by an onslaught of cyber-attacks.

Cyber Terrain

With the cyber threat terrain as expansive as it is, it’s clear that no one is immune to a cyber-attack. Not businesses, not individuals.

In 2017 alone, the “Master Deeds” incident and Ster-Kinekor’s data breech saw millions of South Africans vulnerable with their highly sensitive personal information exposed. And it hasn’t calmed down since.

What are the major threats?

The main cyber threats in South Africa seem to be identity theft, phishing and ransomware.

Identity theft is where criminals acquire an individual’s personal information and use it to convince a financial institution that they are you, allowing them to gain full access to your personal financial accounts.

Phishing is when criminals try trick unsuspecting victims through scams into clicking on a malicious URL or to open an email attachment to steal their login details. They then use this information to gain unauthorised access to the victims’ financial accounts.

Ransomware is where a hacker will encrypt files on an individual’s computer. The only way to get the files back is to pay the hacker, usually in crypto currency.

Next steps

To ensure that both you and your business are fully covered for any potential cyber threats, contact us for the best advice.