If given the opportunity, a hacker can and will breach your network to steal any and every bit of valuable data they can find. But it's tough to sure up your defenses without understanding exactly what cybercriminals are looking for.
Below are a few examples of things cyber thieves love to steal. Of course, you can stop a data breach from sinking your small business by investing a cyber theft insurance policy today!
Passwords
This one should be obvious, but hackers often pinch passwords through phishing emails and website redirect links. What might not be obvious to some web users is that hackers will often shop around a stolen password to see what else it unlocks.
For example, a cyber crook might steal your Facebook sign-in then use that same password and email combo to unlock your personal inbox. From there they might find some corporate email chains and work to unlock your business email account. Before you know it, the hacker has weaseled their way into your online bank account, your business network, your ecommerce accounts and so much more.
Do yourself a favor and choose unique passphrases for all your accounts. Worried you can't keep all those logins straight? Download a password manager to help keep everything simple and safe.
Employees' Personal Information
Did you know that the leading cause of data breach is employee negligence? It's not that employees are intentionally trying to damage your business, but rather that they lack the knowledge necessary to defend themselves against cybersecurity threats.
The best thing you can do to combat this trend is to train your employees how to stay safe online. Impress on your workers the importance of cybersecurity, not just for your company but for themselves as well.
How would they feel if their names, addresses, Social Security numbers, take-home pay and other personal information was leaked to god-knows-who? That's guaranteed to get everyone's attention, and quick!
Customer Financial Information
Leaking employees' personal information is bad, but can you imagine the blowback your company would receive for leaking customers' financial information?
Let's face it, data breaches are bad for business. They destroy customer confidence, obliterate years of good PR and sometimes even result in class-action lawsuits. Thankfully, third-party cyber theft insurance can help cover some of these financial damages; but it's much better to avoid an incident from happening in the first place.
Remember to save sensitive customer information in an encrypted and password-protected cloud storage space to prevent unauthorized access from outside actors.
Medical Records
It might surprise you to learn that stolen medical records are worth more to the hacker community than stolen credit card numbers. Can you guess why?
Patient records contain a trove of personal information including names, birthdates, Social Security numbers and more; basically, everything you'd need to commit identity fraud. Credit cards, on the other hand, can be canceled at the first sign of suspicious activity.
To add insult to injury, victims of healthcare data breach could face charges for HIPAA violation. And nobody wants to go through that.
Compromising Emails
Last but not least, cybercriminals are sometime interested in destroying an organization's public image by stealing and leaking compromising email threads. The 2014 hack of Sony Pictures is a perfect example of this.
Sure, you might not have anything especially embarrassing buried in your email account (although no judgement if you do), you may still have some proprietary business information you won't want leaked to a competitor.
Now do you see why cyber theft insurance is so important? Don't let a data breach sink your small business. Reach out to CyberPolicy today for your free consultation.
