Cyber Extortion - what can you do? - Deeley Insurance Group

The screen goes black. Then the popup message shows up. Hackers have your data and your system and you can't get back in without paying a ransom?

It happens and with the speed and determination of cyber criminals – hackers – it is going to happen more and more. What can your business do to stop this? Review this list of 11 things you can do from Travelers insurance.

Know your data. A company cannot fully know how much is at risk until they understand the nature and the amount of data they have.
Create file back-ups, data back-ups and back-up bandwidth capabilities. This will help a company to retain its information in the event that extortion occurs.
Train employees to recognize spear phishing. All employees should learn the importance of protecting the information they regularly handle to help reduce exposure to the business.
Do background checks on employees. Background checking employees can help identify whether they have criminal pasts.
Limit administrative capabilities for systems and social footprint. The less employees with access to sensitive information, the better.
Ensure systems have appropriate firewall and antivirus technology. After the appropriate software is in place, evaluate the security settings on software, browser and email programs. In doing so, select system options that will meet your business needs without increasing risk.
Have data breach prevention tools, including intrusion detection. Ensure employees are actually monitoring the detection tools. It is important to not only try to prevent a breach, but to make sure that if a breach occurs, the company is aware as soon as possible. Time is of the essence.
Update security software patches in a timely manner. Regularly maintaining security protections on your operating system is vital to them being effective over time.
Include DDoS security capabilities. It is important to have the ability to avoid or absorb attacks meant to overwhelm or degrade your systems.
Put a plan in place to manage a data breach. If a breach occurs, there should be a clear protocol outlining which employees are part of the incident response team and their roles and responsibilities.
Protect your business with insurance coverage designed to address cyber risks. Cyber insurance coverage typically provides protection for costs associated with data breaches and extortion events. The right insurance program will also provide access to skilled professionals to manage the event from start to finish.