With about 75% of employees in the U.S. using their own devices for work communications and productivity, businesses must implement safeguards to avoid company data from being compromised should a device be stolen, hacked or contract a virus.

As the number of cyber attacks against businesses continues to grow, insurers that provide cyber liability and other cyber-related coverage have started intensifying their scrutiny of their clients' databases and operational security.

While companies scramble to protect themselves against cyber criminals and malicious attacks on their servers, there is a growing amount of business compromise crime that uses both technology and a human touch to extract funds from businesses.

Cybersecurity threats have continued growing, in fact they been ramping up during 2020, and the trend according to experts is that the risks will continue to grow at an exponential rate.

​​Information security is one the greatest challenges for companies allowing remote work during the COVID-19 outbreak. When an employee is at the office, their work is protected by safety standards that keep your company’s network and data secure. However, an employee working from home may not have the same safety measures in place to protect your organization’s devices and information. 

According to recent estimates from the University of Maryland, there is a cyberattack every 39 seconds. Data breaches and cyberattacks are daily headlines—and employee benefits plans are no exception to that threat

As new cases of the Coronavirus continue to be reported daily, cybercriminals have been leveraging the situation to take advantage of people and businesses who have quickly transitioned to remote work, often without putting cyber security best practices in place.

Ransomware, fund transfer fraud, and email compromise make up 80% of cyber claims. The average severity of a cyber attack is $60,000; however, this figure can quickly increase without insurance.

As the coronavirus continues to spread, more people are being asked to self-isolate and many employers are scrambling to put systems in place to allow their employees to telecommute. 

Companies that are not set up for telecommuting arrangements have legitimate concerns about productivity, communications, and even the possibility of workers' comp claims stemming from home hazards that may not be typical in the workplace.
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But there are steps you can take to make sure that you keep your employees engaged and on task.

In some instances, a commercial crime insurance policy may offer coverage for a loss due to a cyber-attack. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has ruled that an insurer must indemnify a policyholder that was scammed out of more than $1.7 million in a phishing incident under its commercial crime policy.

As attacks on businesses' networks continue at unprecedented levels, cyber risks have become the top concern among organizations of all sizes for the first time, according to a new survey.

The "Travelers Risk Index" found that 55% of executives surveyed said they worry "some" or "a great deal" about cyber risks. That's more than they worry about medical cost inflation (54%), employee benefit costs (53%), the ability to attract and retain talent (46%), and legal liability (44%).
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