[BreachExchange] What’s your plan to survive a cyber-attack?

[Audrey McNeil]

https://www.itproportal.com/features/whats-your-plan-to-
survive-a-cyber-attack/

How embarrassing.

Your IT infrastructure is packed to the hilt with security features and
looked after by a crack team. But you’ve been hit by a cyber-attack and the
network’s in lockdown. No one can do a stroke of work and business has
ground to a halt…which means a red light to revenue too. So, it must be
IT’s fault, surely? The buck stops with them for failing to anticipate the
threat and protect the system better.

Not so.

Cyber-attacks are growing not only in number but in complexity as hackers
get more devious. That means no one’s safe. And when security-savvy
companies like Microsoft, Boeing and Sony are being hit, what hope is there
for the rest of us?

No place to hide

It’s not just the big boys that hackers are going after, either. SMEs,
public sector bodies and contractors are fair game too. Scarily, the
Department of Culture, Media and Sport reports nearly half of the UK’s 5.5
million businesses suffered an attack or a breach last year.

Sure, you can follow best practice and make systems as protected as they
can be. But it’s entirely possible to be caught out if hackers discover a
new vulnerability in a piece of software. Or if an employee clicks on a
bogus email link and floods your network with malware.

That makes a cyber-attack more a case of ‘when’ than ‘if’ for any business.
And the bad news is that they can prove damagingly costly – both to your
reputation if there’s a data breach, and to your bottom line in terms of
regulatory fines, legal action and lost income.

Hard numbers

The proof’s in the figures.

Hiscox surveyed over 3,000 SMEs in the UK, Germany and America and found
the average cost of a cyber-attack is nearly £26,000.

That’s a financial kick in the teeth many companies simply can’t recover
from.

If you haven’t got one already, a recovery plan is essential to get things
back up and running as quickly as possible – without going bankrupt in the
process.

Because, unfortunately, dealing with the aftermath of a cyber-attack isn’t
just about fixing the IT. There’s a ton of other stuff to do, too.

Starters orders

However, IT is where it starts.

First you need to stop the attack. Then you need to found out what
happened, fix the damage and restore systems as completely as possible. All
of that takes time and money.

In the meantime, your usual way of doing business will be in tatters, so
profits will suffer. And if your clients get in touch through a phone
system that works hand-in- hand with your IT, you’ll also be out of reach.

What if you’ve lost data and it hasn’t recently been backed up? That can
spell disaster. All the work will have to be done again – if you can
remember what it was in the first place. And what if cyber criminals are
holding your files to ransom? Do you negotiate with them, pay up, or what?

Data danger

Customer or staff personal data has high currency on the dark web. If
hackers have managed to get hold of it through you, you’re in real trouble.

A data breach like that means you’ll have to tell the Information
Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It’s likely to launch a time-consuming
investigation and clobber you with a hefty fine. You’ll also have to tell
the affected people about the breach.

What’s worse is that all this is set to get, well, worse. The new General
Data Protection Regulation, which goes live May 2018, imposes strict new
rules for handling and storing EU citizens’ data. If the ICO thinks you
haven’t been playing ball, it can impose a fine up to €20 million or 4% of
your annual revenue – whichever is more.

Courting disaster

People whose private information has been exposed, and who may well have
suffered financial loss because of it, will want compensation. They’ll take
you to court – which means a chunky bill for solicitors, legal costs,
damages etc.

That’s a lot for anyone to get their head round. Especially when there’s a
business to run at the same time. It’s probably why our survey of 500 UK
SMEs revealed nearly one in five owners lose sleep worrying about
cybercrime.

The plan’s the thing

The key thing, then, is to have a recovery plan. That’s where cyber
insurance helps.

It kicks in immediately, pretty much as soon as you call your broker in
fact. It provides rapid computer forensics and help, and stand-in kit so
your business can keep functioning. If one’s needed, you get an expert to
deal with ransom situations too.

When there’s been a data breach, cyber insurance takes care of liaising
with the ICO and deals with any investigation. It also pays to tell anyone
affected by the breach and provides credit monitoring.

If compensation claims follow, cyber insurance pays your legal costs and
picks up the tab for any damages awarded.

Crucially, it covers lost revenue while your business is unable to function
as normal, and pays for PR crisis management to help defend your battered
reputation. That way, you stand more of a chance of having a business to go
back to once calm has been restored.

Tough medicine

Frighteningly, our research also discovered 74% of SMEs haven’t put aside
any budget to deal with the aftermath of a cyber-attack, while 43% have no
plan in place for what to do when they’re hit.

If your business falls into that category, it’s probably time to face facts
and plan for the worst. The kind of ‘worst’ that cyber insurance can take
the sting out of.
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