FAQs

• Q: What is cyber crime?

  A: Cyber-crime is criminal activity conducted using computers and the Internet, often financially motivated.
  
  Cyber-crime includes identity theft, fraud, data breaches and internet scams, among other activities.

• Q: What are the costs of a Cyber-Attack?

  A: The number of targeted cyber-attacks have more than doubled in Ireland in 2018. Successful attacks on businesses can have a serious impact with 62% experiencing loss of IT services because of a breach, 40% suffering financial loss and 42% reporting a loss of operational services.
  
  Data leaks and losses can lead to massive regulatory fines, clients suing, bad media coverage and can damage the business’ reputation affecting the stockholders’ confidence and profits.
  
  The new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to all companies that process the data of any European individual and makes it much easier for individuals and regulatory bodies to take action against businesses that breach new data laws.

• Q: I have a small business holding data for no more than 200-300 clients - do I need cyber insurance?

  A: As long as you are holding your clients’ data on file or operate using the internet or computers you are exposed and you should consider taking out a cyber insurance policy. Most modern businesses are at risk of cyber-crime.
  
  Cyber-crime is happening more and more to small and medium size businesses as they are considered more vulnerable by the criminals. In fact, 62 percent of cyber breach victims in 2017 were small to mid-sized businesses.

• Q: How does a cyber insurance policy complement my current business IT security strategy?

  A: No matter how good and secure your IT systems are, there are unforeseen threats and fraud schemes that even the best-designed internal controls cannot prevent. Therefore, cyber insurance should be a strong consideration of every company’s IT security strategy.