Most of us receive SMS’s claiming to freeze your bank card, and then you need to communicate with them to update your information. And not just that, this type of fraud has extended to phone calls and emails to deceive the card owner that it is a genuine call from the bank. To prove their legitimacy, they inform you that they have some of your personal information such as your full name, email, and last four numbers of your credit-card .
The whole world is experiencing a real crisis related to the emergence of cybercrimes targeting both individuals and companies, which sometimes makes a small human error turn into a big financial loss and have a negative impact on company reputation, such as what happened in the case of Marriott Hotels and Facebook. According to a report by Cybint-a global cybersecurity education company- 95% of cybersecurity violations are caused by human error.
Recently, these practices have become common in the Kingdom, especially at a company level since at this level, if one individual is affected, it may end up having significant consequences for the whole company compared to when it happens to an individual only.
We all remember the attack hacking Aramco’s network in 2012 when one member of the information technology team opened a scam email and clicked on a bad link. The hackers were in. so the process of protecting and securing the cyber and financial assets of organizations has become a matter that must be taken into consideration to guarantee the stability and growth of the businesses.
However, what are the reasons for the increase in digital fraud cases during this particular period of time?
Often the percentage of fraud and theft in all its forms increases simultaneously with the emergence of epidemics or wars that mainly affect people’s economic situation. This is because the level of fraud and the economy have a directly proportional relationship that enables us to conclude that these practices have increased due to the current economic conditions that most countries are facing as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Aite Group – a leading research and consulting firm focused on business and technology – most banks expected a high rate of credit card fraud in 2020 because of the impact of the coronavirus on the economic conditions, which fraudsters are taking advantage of to send fake messages disguised as being from the World Health Organization, or selling suspicious products, sharing suspicious links, as well as fake donation invitations.
Furthermore, since the emergence of the Corona pandemic, the US Federal Bureau of Investigations has reported a 300% increase in the number of reported cybercrimes.
On the basis of the recent increase in cyber breaches in companies and organizations, Mr Naji Al-Tamimi, CEO of the Insurance House Company (IHC) said that: “some business owners become too confident in their own cybersecurity measures and forget that hackers are continuously working, developing, and evolving their tools to discover vulnerabilities and ways to bypass security perimeters and get inside their networks for malicious purposes. What this means is that every business is vulnerable to suffering a hacking although the level of threat may vary depending on the strength of the cybersecurity measures in place. For this reason, businesses need to protect themselves in case of a cyber incident that may bring forth unforeseen costs.”
At the individual level, some of the tactics the fraudsters include:
- Offering to pay your debts
- Fake job posts
- Attaching links to sign up for cheap subscription services
If you fall victim to any of these targeter’s tactics, they can then get your bank details to carry out cybercrimes in the future.
How to Know you are a Target of A Digital Scam
- Scammers usually apply pressure to get your personal information
- Nobody from the bank will contact you from a personal phone number
- Bank employees will never ask you for your credit card password
- Avoid clicking on suspicious links shared with you
- Do not accept transferring or receiving money from unknown accounts
- Make sure to delete all of your credit card information after purchasing from any website.
It is important to be aware that these scams are not limited to the examples listed above. The tactics cybercriminals use keep evolving over time. For example, the scammers have gone as far as using automated calls to contact you, after which you are requested to press 0 to speak to a customer support agent.
Solutions that Can Help you Secure your Company’s Digital Assets
One of the most recommended solutions to address cyber risks is cyber liability insurance, which is an umbrella of different policies that can help you address different risks in case of a hack or a breach.
With cyber liability insurance, you can protect your business against financial risks such as;
- the responsibility of informing clients about the hack
- legal fees and fines
- third party liability resulting from lawsuits of clients affected by the hack, which can be beneficial not only in cost reduction but also maintain the trust of your clients.
- In addition, one of the most important coverages that we stress at IHC is Business Interruption coverage, which is not available in most insurance products in the Saudi market.
Cyber Insurance is a deeper concept than the prevailing idea in our society of data recovery only, it covers even the costs of cyber blackmail, which usually happens before the breach occurs; That is why we strongly support consulting insurance professionals before purchasing any insurance policy.
Also, one of the things that is worth mentioning with regard to cyber insurance is liability coverage. Regarding this, Mr Naji Al-Tamimi emphasized its importance for emerging companies when they need to protect the business from legal claims filed by the clients after a breach and leakage of confidential data.
Apart from providing liability coverage, it also helps to preserve your clients’ confidence, which means it gives you more than just the protection from costs!
What are the Main sectors in Saudi Arabia that need to get a cyber insurance policy?
Mr.” Naji Al-Tamimi” mentions that the insurance culture within the business sector in the Kingdom has been increased, but a lot still needs to be done, especially if we consider what happened with cybercriminals targeting Aramco network in 2012, which temporarily disrupted the flow of oil to the markets.
This experience moves us towards focusing on the importance of insurance in this aspect, and exceptionally for the facilities which are active in the manufacturing sector that rely on electronic systems in their operations, as the breach may cause a complete halt in production or a defect in the programming of the devices that leads to destroying and disposing of the products or affecting the reputation of the manufacturer.
Is cyber insurance necessary to this extent?
Mr.” Naji Al-Tamimi, IHC’s CEO expressed his optimistic view of the business sector in the Kingdom in that it is concerned with market growth and digital transformation, which leads us towards expectations of high demand for cyber insurance in the near future. In fact, there are predictions that it will be adopted as compulsory insurance on some sectors in the Saudi market, coinciding with the increase in cases of breaches of networks through targeting employees in companies as well as the need to raise cybersecurity awareness overall. .
Despite the importance of this insurance product, most companies in the Kingdom do not pay attention to cyber insurance until after they are exposed to hacking and subsequent material damage. As reports indicate, 77% of organizations do not have a clear plan to deal with cyber-attacks and their effects, so in the worst- case scenario your business will be facing bankruptcy, considering many companies, even the leading ones, take at least 6 months to detect a data breach.
Why do SMEs Need to take into consideration getting Cyber Insurance as a necessary procedure?
About 43% of cyber attacks target SMEs. This is due to the weaknesses of their cybersecurity standards that make it easy for hackers to access more than one company within a very short period of time. The outcome is huge losses to these companies which may not be able to recover their data or recover from this hack easily compared to the case of large companies. According to Cybint, the companies spend an average of $ 7.68 million dollars in costs for each cyber attack they experience!
Also, most small and medium-sized companies are focusing on investment only and look at the insurance as a financial burden, forgetting the size of the losses that they may incur in return for ignoring the issue of protecting the data and business by anticipating the worst.
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