Most modern businesses rely on technology in order to meet their clients’ needs and operate at their best. But participating in the digital landscape can put businesses at risk from cyberattacks; no one business is immune, and it can happen when you least expect it. How do you protect your business from suffering from financial risks related to these cyberattacks? There are two ways: a strong security posture and coverage when you need it the most. That’s where cybersecurity insurance comes into play.
An emerging industry, cybersecurity insurance is a form of insurance that can help mitigate the financial risks of a cyberattack. Like your everyday car insurance, you can pay a monthly fee and the policy purchased can help relieve some of that risk to the insurer.
You’ve realized that cybersecurity insurance sounds like a potential fit for your business needs, but you aren’t too sure where to start. Have no fear – let’s take a deeper look into what is covered and the various insuring agreements that cybersecurity insurance has to offer.
Five Insuring Agreements and What They Mean to You
Network Security: For those companies who are subject to information and privacy risks, network security coverage is a beneficial agreement to look into. This aspect of cybersecurity insurance coverage will help protect your business if your network security fails. This can include data breaches, malware infection, ransomware, and other related cyberthreats.
Privacy Liability: Like network security, privacy liability coverage is beneficial for companies who store a lot of private information and are subject to privacy risk. Employee and customer information can be sensitive to violations and breaches, which could potentially expose and threaten your business’s reputation. This aspect of cybersecurity insurance coverage can help protect your company from any breach involving the leak of sensitive information like financial or medical records.
Network Business Interruption: Would you say that your business is dependent on technology? Network business interruption offers companies protection against operational cyber risk, whether from failed software patches or security failures like third-party hacks.
Media Liability: Not many companies think of media liability as a needed coverage. However, this form of cybersecurity insurance coverage allows for the protection of intellectual property infringement.
Errors & Omissions: One of the most popular forms of cybersecurity insurance coverage, E&O addresses the event of a cyberattack that could keep you from fulfilling your contractual obligation to your customer. In the result of a claim of negligence, you can rest assured that E&O can include legal defense costs or provide compensation to a disgruntled customer.
You Know the Basics of Cybersecurity Insurance…What Now?
Cybersecurity insurance can help provide your business with a little extra protection, but are your cybersecurity solutions in a good place to qualify for coverage? Here at NetAssurity, our team is ready to help you make sure your cybersecurity processes, standards, and plans are in top shape. If a cyberattack does occur, you can rest assured that you are protected. Talk to a specialist today to learn more about how our services can help bolster your cybersecurity solutions. Let’s get you on track to a better tomorrow.
Looking to learn more about cybersecurity insurance and other cyber tips? Check out more of our blogs in our resources section.
When it comes to the livelihood of your business, you probably have some measures in place to make sure your business can withstand a disaster. That’s where business continuity and disaster recovery plans come into play. These plans are critical to the survival of your business, which is why they’re so important to have.
However, there are still businesses who don’t have any precautions in place. According to a survey by Mercer, 51% of businesses don’t have any kind of business continuity plan in place. The same can be said for disaster recovery. As a business owner, you need both a business continuity and disaster recovery plan, but what’s the difference between the two? In this blog, we will explain each type of plan and how they differ.
The Differences Between Them
#1 – When the Plan Takes Place
The first key difference between business continuity and disaster recovery is when each of them can be enacted. When it comes to business continuity, the plan is focused on both preventive and recovery steps and can take place before or during a disaster. Disaster recovery is more specific. This plan takes place after a disaster occurs. Business continuity is the bigger picture of making sure your business continues to run, and disaster recovery is one of the pieces of that big picture.
#2 – What Each Plan Involves
Different from business continuity plans, disaster recovery plans involve a variety of strategies from safety procedures to data backup procedures. For disaster recovery, there are a few elements that go into the plan. Some of the elements include:
Creating a disaster recovery team
Assessing all the risks
Determining your critical business procedures
Creating your backup and offsite procedures
A business continuity plan is a bit broader, since it covers everything about your business. Some common elements of a business continuity plan include:
An analysis of all your critical business functions
Identifying potential threats
Developing strategies to avoid risks
Contact information for key and emergency personnel
#3 – They Have Different Goals
The goals between the two plans are a bit different. For business continuity, the primary goal is to make sure that your business can run during a disaster. Some other objectives are to reduce the financial loss and make sure critical services are uninterrupted. As for disaster recovery, the primary goal of the plan is to minimize the amount of downtime and data loss you experience. Establishing alternate ways to operate your business and complying with regulations are other objectives of a disaster recovery plan.
How Do Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Work Together?
They both help businesses prepare for the worst. Together, their purpose is to make sure your business can bounce back from disruptions and continue to be successful. When you don’t have a business continuity and disaster recovery plan, you leave your business vulnerable to disasters – and several other issues that eat into your organization’s productivity. Consider this: the Federal Emergency Management Agency found that 40% of businesses never reopen after a disaster. So it’s important that you account for how you will recover when an issue does arise.
We know everything from disaster recovery to business continuity can be overwhelming. Instead of stressing over these plans, leave it to the IT experts. Here at NetAssurity, our experts are ready to tackle your IT concerns so you can focus on what matters – your business.
Check out our past blogs and contact a member of our team to learn more about disaster recovery and other great cyber tips.
Do you have any data recovery system in place right now? It may not be something you think about often, but it’s extremely important that you’re taking care of your data. Unfortunately, most of the time, we don’t realize our data is in danger until it’s too late. The Identity Theft Resource Center found that there were over 1,800 data compromises in 2021, making it a new record. In other words, there’s never been a more critical time than the present to protect your information.
We know how important your business data is. That’s why we want to make sure you’re protecting it. Having a proper data backup and recovery plan can ensure the safety of your data and keep your business running efficiently. There are many benefits to having a strong data recovery system. Here are just a few of them.
The Advantages of Data Backup & Recovery
1. Strong Security
Having strong security is one of the most important aspects of data recovery. First off, there’s always a risk of cyberattacks impacting your business. But as your IT systems grow, the likelihood of becoming vulnerable only increases. And as you probably know, these cybercriminals can get into your systems and steal data without you knowing. To keep your data secure, more and more data recovery solutions offer users the chance to encrypt their data to give it an extra layer of protection from bad actors.
2. Ease of Management
Having ease of data management can create consistency in your data backup process. If your employees are backing up their computers themselves, you have no guarantee that their backups are up to date. With a strong recovery system, you can avoid inconsistent and irregular backups. When your business has an updated backup system, there is always a copy of what you need, and your employees can get back to work faster if they do experience disruption.
3. Replication You Can Rely On
Data backup and recovery software offers replication you can rely on. You can make multiple replicas of your data and store them securely offsite, that way you always have a backup. In the event you lose your data, you can always go back and find the replica of that file so you can continue working. Replicating your files saves you time and helps with productivity.
4. Controls Costs
Let’s say you lost your data; you would probably have to hire someone to recover what you lost. Hiring a third-party service could cost you time and a lot of money depending on the severity. Having an updated data recovery system can help you retrieve your data faster and save you money from having to hire someone to help.
5. Builds Customer Trust
Your customers always want to make sure that their data is safe. If you experience a data breach, it could lead to some distrust and hurt your reputation. A solid and reliable data recovery system can help keep your customers’ data safe and give you a cushion to fall back on in the case of data loss.
Your business data is an important asset, so make sure you’re taking the proper steps to keep it secure. The first step to protecting your data is to set up a strong data backup and recovery system. With the right system in place, it’s the best way to set yourself up for success.
We know how complicated it can be to handle all your data alone, so that’s where we come in. The IT experts at NetAssurity in Tampa are pros when it comes to data recovery. It’s the perfect time to learn the basics of keeping your data secure so your business can continue to grow and succeed.
Want to read more about data recovery and other related topics? Check out our other blogs to learn more, or contact our team to continue the conversation.
When was the last time you checked up on your cybersecurity? Most of the time, businesses don’t realize the gaps in their infrastructure until it’s too late. Data protection is a set of tools and policies your business can use to secure your data. It’s key to protect your data in order to guard your network efficiently. If a cybercriminal were to get their hands on your data, they could steal it and sell it on the dark web.
According to BullGuard, 43% of all SMBs have no cybersecurity plan in place to protect themselves, and in the last year IBM reported that SMBs lost an average of over $2.9 million per data breach. As cybercriminals become savvier, it’s important to make sure your business is protected from data theft.
Key Practices You Can Implement to Protect Your Data
We know the idea of being a cyberattack target can be scary. But there are easy steps you can take now to better protect your business data from getting stolen. Here are a few helpful practices to get you started.
1. Educate Your Employees
The majority of data breaches are caused by human error; that’s why it’s crucial that your employees are trained in cybersecurity awareness. When you educate your team on proper cyber hygiene, it can help your business stay secure. Training everyone on how to recognize and respond to cyberattack attempts can help decrease the chances of a data breach caused by human error.
2. Develop a Response Plan for Cyberattacks
Every business is at risk of an attack, so it’s extremely important that you have a plan in place. Something to consider is how your business will restore backups from disastrous scenarios if data theft is a part of the attack. It’s important that you’re testing your backup systems regularly and making sure everything is running smoothly. Practicing ransomware drills or using phishing email simulations is also great tools to see how your employees will act in those situations.
3. Implement Multifactor Authentication Across Your Network
Multifactor authentication (MFA) provides extra layers of security when it comes to logging into your accounts. MFA can help decrease the risk of many types of cyberattacks and help keep these bad actors out of your network. Common examples of MFA include using one-time passwords, pins, and fingerprints.
4. Encrypt Your Data
When you encrypt your data, you translate your data into ciphertext, which makes it unreadable to unauthorized users. Encryption is a great tool to use to protect all your data on your network from being stolen. Encrypting your business files helps keep cybercriminals out of your network.
When you implement these practices in your business, you’re helping your network stay guarded from cybercriminals. While these are great steps in the direction of protecting your business from data theft, it’s difficult to handle this all by yourself. Finding all this intimidating? Partner with an MSP to alleviate some stress.
Here at NetAssurity in Tampa, we’re ready to help keep your organization’s data secure with the latest cybersecurity solutions. Our experts can show you your organization’s current vulnerabilities and offer helpful solutions. If you’re looking for help with your current level of security, contact us today.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has released new information regarding how businesses need to have heightened levels of security due to current global tensions. Every business is vulnerable to cyberattacks, so it’s important to have an updated cybersecurity strategy in place. Are you fully aware of your current cybersecurity practices? Have you implemented a cybersecurity training program? If not, it’s time to do so.
Phishing emails are responsible for about 94% of all malware, and are one of the leading causes of cyberattacks. Every 39 seconds, there is a new attack somewhere on the web. Cybersecurity training is especially important to have because without it, you may not be able to detect an incoming cyberattack.
With everything going on in the world right now, it’s important that your business is fully protected from any potential cyberattacks. In a recent study, it was found that cybercriminals can breach over 90% of company networks. Not only can these cyberattacks disrupt your normal business operations, but they can cause extreme damage to your IT infrastructure that you may not be able to recover from.
Cybersecurity Training: 4 Easy Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Business
You can reduce the chances of being a victim of cyberattack by following simple steps. Here are some easy ways you can get a head start on better guarding your business.
1. Use Two Factor Authentication, 2FA
When you implement 2FA, you’re opting to take an extra step in logging into your accounts to ensure you’re protected. Some common examples are pins, random security questions, confirmation texts, and fingerprints or face ID. When you have an extra step to log in, it makes it more difficult for threats to get into your account.
2. Always Update Your Software
If your devices aren’t updated, it gives holes for cybercriminals to hack into your software. To prevent that from happening, it’s a great idea to turn on automatic updates on all your software. That way, whenever a new update is available, your systems will update automatically. This way, you won’t have to remember to update your software all the time.
3. Think Before You Click
Email security has never been more important than it is today. If you see a link or attachment that doesn’t look familiar to you, it’s best that you avoid it. Most likely when you get sent email links asking for personal information it’s a phishing scam. If you click on these attachments, it gives hackers access to your devices, and they can steal your information.
4. Create Strong Passwords
Did you know the most common used password is “123456”? If that applies to you, it’s time for you to level up your password strength. Some tips for strengthening your password are using at least 15 characters, mixing up letters and numbers, and making sure it’s unique. Using a password manager is a great way to help generate random passwords and securely store them somewhere safe.
Reality is, while these are all great steps to take, you’ll need more help to make sure your business is protected and secure from all angles. When you’re not fully protected, you make your business more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Especially with recent global cyberthreats, now is the perfect time to double check your cybersecurity practices.
Questions you may be asking yourself are if your software is safe or if your backup system is reliable. Don’t be overwhelmed by all the stress, the first step you should take is partnering with an MSP to help you get started.
Here at NetAssurity in Tampa, we can help your business by implementing the best security practices, offering your employees cybersecurity training, and supporting all your other IT needs.
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