Ontarians are taking notice of the recent spike in cybercrime, especially against large institutions –but that doesn’t mean smaller business are safe, either. It’s “not a matter of if, but when” you’ll be affected by cyber attacks, cited an article by CBC. And with the average cost per cyber attack in Canada reaching nearly $2M this year, businesses simply can’t afford to be unprepared when breaches happen.
Especially at risk are small businesses. Some might say that if a business is small enough, then cyber criminals wouldn’t bother to target them, right? This is not, in fact, true: some small businesses might even be at higher risk than their larger counterparts due to the lack of an IT team to ensure that cyber security best practices are being followed.
Proactive Cyber Insurance
In previous years, cyber attacks were less frequent. Risk advisors simply didn’t have the education, products, or data to advise their clients on cyber risk management. But now, the industry is shifting away from this reactive approach by incorporating broader offerings which include cyber tools through partners as well as broader cyber liability coverage.
Now, cyber is being approached just like other perils. Risk advisors are approaching cyber proactively, just like how they would approach third party liability or E&O. And just like with other risks, a proactive approach to cyber can anticipate and mitigate risks before they even materialize.
However, even when you do everything right, breaches can still happen; there is no way to guarantee security. With this in mind, why would you keep your business open to potential damages that average in the millions of dollars? Obtaining cyber liability coverage is no different than getting fire or theft coverage for your business.
An Evolving Threat Landscape
In the past, several factors contributed to the lack of advice and products for cyber threats. Some of these were:
- Cyber attacks happened less frequently
- The average cost of a breach was significantly lower
- Businesses didn’t lean as heavily on digital infrastructure
- Carriers had not yet developed their cyber products
- Cybersecurity education was less accessible, leading to the average person knowing less about cyber security best practices
The Solution
Your broker is there to identify coverage and policies that will help protect your business’s well-being. That’s why Ives has spent the time to collaborate with leading cyber security operations company Arctic Wolf out of Waterloo, Ontario, to create a specialized program to protect our clients.
Introducing: Cyber JumpStart!
Cyber JumpStart is the new standard of cyber risk management. Ask your broker to unlock your access to the following resources.
JumpStart Threat Scanner:
Consistently scan your environment for the threats that cause over 72% of Arctic Wolf’s incident response cases, remediate them, and stay protected.
JumpStart IR Planner:
Collect and organize the critical information needed to reduce your business interruption from an incident before disaster strikes with the Incident Response Planner.
JumpStart Guides:
Close your security gaps with education, resources, and pre-built tasks to implement the most effective cyber safeguards.
Our Cyber Insurance Expert
Andrew Nowak, a partner at Ives Insurance Brokers, is one of the foremost advisors on cyber insurance in Ontario. Andrew has devoted countless hours of time and effort to collaborate with Arctic Wolf and Navacord to coordinate the delivery of the Cyber Jump Start program. Having learned from the leading industry experts, he’s here to work alongside your insurance broker to make sure that you have the cyber liability coverage that you need. Explore the cyber liability insurance options available to you today with your broker, who will work collaboratively with Andrew. If your business does not yet meet the requirements to become eligible for one of these policies, the Cyber Jump Start program with Arctic Wolf can help you reach those requirements fast.
