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Local companies could face significant costs by failing to take out adequate insurance against cyber crime.
On Sunday, it was reported that ten different businesses in Guernsey had been targeted by cyber attackers who had demanded a ransom to recover lost files.
Managing Director of Rossborough Insurance in Guernsey, Ian Stewart, said: "Sadly, cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common and increasingly sophisticated and as we saw at the weekend, no industry is immune. Guernsey Police gave some excellent advice to have appropriate levels of cyber security, not open emails from unknown sources and regularly back up data but cyber insurance wasn’t mentioned.
"That’s not surprising as despite the growing risk, we still have relatively low numbers of companies taking out specific cyber insurance. Standard business insurance packages don’t cover a company’s cyber risk and a comprehensive cyber insurance product is needed however, in Rossborough’s experience, less than one per cent of Guernsey businesses currently have cyber insurance.
"As technology has evolved, companies rely on computer systems more than ever before. So much of our company’s data, information and day to day business is stored electronically and hard copies of files and documents are becoming a thing of the past. Not being able to access that information can quickly paralyse a company’s ability to do business and that’s the aim of cyber criminals.
"They no longer want to steal intellectual property, they want to infect a company’s system, encrypt everything on that system and then demand a ransom to put it right.
"It can take the most skilled IT specialists time to recover lost files, which comes at a cost, and in addition many companies will find it almost impossible to work during that time and again that may have a significant impact on their income. While insurance can’t prevent an attack happening, and can’t reduce the inconvenience, it can ease the financial burden."
