After the recent hack job that sent the world reeling when a pipeline was hacked into, causing a shutdown and gas shortage, we were once again reminded how vulnerable, even the most technologically advanced businesses are today to cyber crime. However, if you now find yourself facing the unpleasant aftereffects of a cyberattack, read on to learn your next step:
What to Do When Your Business' Computer System Has Been Hacked
Obviously, hackers can access your data and can steal it to do immense damage. They can even encrypt your vital information and demand a ransom to give you access to your own data once again. These actions that can cause such detrimental consequences are the prime reason you should consider cyber security insurance.
1) Attempt to Mitigate the Risks
Lockdown current accounts, changing all the passwords. Then, sweep all your devices with malware and antivirus programs. The idea is to stop the bleeding. You can’t do anything about what information a hacker already took from you, but you can keep the problem from getting bigger by stopping that flow of information outward as soon as you know you have been hacked.
2) Damage Assessment
Run an analysis to determine what was breached and the extent of the hackers’ invasion. What do they now have access to? Dig deep. While it can be tempting to ignore the issue, the only way to truly remedy the problem is to properly define it. You need to know how much of a breach you experienced before you can do anything about it.
3) Report It
Contact law enforcement, insurance agents, your IT consultants, then take the hard step of going public if applicable. Your clients deserve to know the truth about their personal information. If you believe that your company’s hack allowed your client’s information to be compromised, they deserve to know the truth and to be aware they need to be on guard.
4) Restore System with Backups
Use off-site, secure backups to restore data. If your company has a good security protocol, you will have recent data backups, so you won’t lose too much information.
5) Strengthen Your Security
Let this experience be a lesson to you about proper focus on cyber security. Now’s the time to beef up your current systems. Do this by taking the following steps:
- Meet with your IT consultant to put systems in place. These systems will ensure your business is now safer from cyber threats than they were before the hack.
- Develop protocols for employees regarding cyber security and data safety. If you already have protocols, now might be a good time to modify them and then train employees on the changes, so everyone is aware.
- Meet with your insurance agent to discuss cyber security. This will ensure the next time it happens, and it most certainly will in this technologically advanced society, that you will have the coverage to protect yourself in the future.
Fighting Hackers is a Full Time Job
No matter how careful you are as a business, you are vulnerable to cyber crime in the form of hacking. Just consider the data breach of Yahoo in 2013. They were a company that should have been ready for such a crime, yet some 3 billion records were affected, decreasing the value of the company by $350million, all by that single breach, and they still don’t know who was behind the attack. That is just one example, added to the pipeline fiasco that just occurred. Suffice it to say it's when not if, but when you will face a cyber crime. Therefore, it's vitally important to learn about what you can do to keep your data safe and your client's information secure by learning more about cyber security insurance.
In many cases, preparing ahead of time for such an attack, even one you think will never come, can be the difference between a minor annoyance of having to reset passwords and add some steps to the long-in process and losing millions of dollars and customers. While there is no way to prevent cyber crime altogether, you can mitigate the risk of said crime with an insurance policy that covers you if such an event took place. Contact us today to find out more about cyber security insurance options and what is available to make your business safer in this technologically vulnerable market.
