Small Businesses Face Big Cyber-Risks

Is your business prepared for a cyber breach?  Besides the cost, there is the potential for damage to your reputation , loss of customers, distraction while dealing with it and the potential for lawsuits, which can go on for years.

An article at AZCentral.com talks about the subject and the fact that hundreds of small businesses have been hacked recently.  The challenge with cyber-breaches is that the bad guy gets your data but you still have it too, so you might not even be aware that you have been attacked.

Sometimes you are never aware that you have been attacked.  Other times, the media catches it and announces it – like with Home Depot.  Still other times, law enforcement pays you a visit and lets you know.

Don’t think that because you are a small business that you are immune.  In fact, hackers assume that small businesses likely have less defenses and are less likely to discover an attack.  Statistics indicate that about a third of all data breaches are against organizations with less than 100 employees.

Cyber-insurance may help with the costs and your defense in court if it goes there (there are over 50 lawsuits pending against Target right now), but that won’t help with the distraction and the damage to your reputation.

Cyber-insurance is a non-standard product meaning that the exclusions and limitations vary from policy to policy.  Assuming you don’t have cyber liability insurance, you should consider it.  If you do, you should review it to understand what is covered and what is not covered.  This is a case where surprises are not a good thing.

For many businesses, cyber risk mitigation is an area where bringing in outside expertise is a good idea.

Mitch Tanenbaum

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