Cybercrime: The greatest business risk of our time

If you’ve found yourself weighing up whether you should spend more on your business’ cyber security measures to countermeasure cybercrime; the answer is YES – do it, and do it now!

Cybercrime affects businesses of every size in South Africa

Contrary to common misconception, it’s not just large multinational companies that are at risk. Any business that transacts online, stores or processes credit card data or sensitive third-party data faces significant risk.

Many local SMEs have fallen victim to cyber-attacks.

According to the 2022 SHA Risk Review, one in three South African SME respondents had suffered a cyber-attack as follows:

• malware 30%,
• phishing 26%,
• ransomware 25%,
• denial of service 13% and
• theft of funds 13%.

And what’s more concerning is that 53% of SMEs that fell victim to ransomware attacks did not recover their data.

Business vulnerabilities to cyber attacks

The most common method of infiltration is still through email phishing attacks, which account for half of all cybercrimes. These types of attacks mostly affect individuals and small businesses – this makes human error the biggest risk small businesses face. That is why it is vital to educate employees on the most common cyber risks and implement cyber security procedures to protect company networks, data and reputation.

Protect your business and get Cyber insurance

Santam recognises the far-reaching consequences this ever-expanding cyber risk could have on a business owner. So, Santam has tailored comprehensive cyber, privacy and media insurance solutions for small to medium-sized enterprises.

Cyber Insurance with Santam

Santam offers a comprehensive cyber insurance solution to help SMEs bounce back following a cyberattack:

• First-party expenses to restore data and get the business back on track
• Business interruption to recoup lost profits during down-time
• Reputation management expenses to cover the cost of public relations or advertising to mitigate reputational brand damage
• Cover for legal defence costs and fines and penalties imposed for regulatory breaches such as the POPI act
• Media liability for risks associated with online media activities
• Theft of funds
• Notification expenses to alert affected parties and monitor credit and identify theft
• Cyber extortion and cybercrime for investigating and negotiating with hackers

Protect your business and get cyber insurance with Santam.