Recent cyber attacks across Australia have reminded organisations of the importance of reducing exposure to risks with the use of cyber insurance. 

BizCover, Australia’s largest online business insurance service for SMEs, states that Cyber Liability insurance can play a key role for small business owners.  With cyber crime costing businesses $1 billion annually, reducing a business’s exposure to cyber crime makes good business sense.  

“As Australians have seen with recent high profile cyber attacks on major organisations, the malicious activities of cyber criminals can cause chaos for businesses and have potentially very serious consequences for customers of the targeted business,” BizCover Head of IT Operations Dino Tius said. 

“With that in mind, it may be a good idea for IT leads in a small businesses to routinely assess the preparedness and capacity of the business to respond to a cyber crime event.” 

The recent high-profile cyber attacks have caused an increase in enquiries from small business owners about reducing their cyber risk through BizCover’s Cyber Liability insurance. 

“There is a growing requirement among small business owners for Cyber Liability insurance, which suggests that small business owners know that they are not immune to the malicious activities of cyber criminals,” BizCover Head of Product, Channels & Risk Jane Mason said. 

The company’s Cyber Liability insurance protects small businesses against both the legal costs and expenses related to cyber security incidents. With it, SMEs will be assisted with the inadvertent loss or release of customer personal information, cyber crime, cyber extortion and business interruption due to a cyber event. 

 BizCover’s Head of Product, Channels & Risk Jane Mason, stated that while the recent cyber attacks on Optus and Medibank targeted large, high-profile organisations, small businesses are also targeted by for cyber criminals. 

“Sometimes small business owners may feel that they are too small to be targeted by sophisticated cyber criminals. But all sizes of businesses can fall victim to cybercrime, and a complacent approach to cyber security may put your business at risk,” she said. 

“While business insurance such as Cyber Liability insurance can be an effective way to reduce the cyber risks to your small business, so too can a greater knowledge and awareness of the warning signs of malicious cyber threats to your small business.” 

As cyber attacks continue to harm organisations, now may be the perfect time for small business owners to review their risk management strategy as no business is too small to be targeted by cyber criminals. 

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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