It is incredibly difficult to defend your system against employees clicking on phishing links that they shouldn’t be clicking on. Contact us today to get a quality cyber policy for your clients.
Why Did the City of Houston Purchase Cyber Insurance?
David Robinson, chairman of the city council’s Transportation, Technology, and Infrastructure committee, convinced the city council to purchase a $30,000,000 policy. He proactively pushed this initiative to protect the city’s infrastructure against the enormous costs of a data breach.
Claims Example: City of Atlanta
On March 22nd, 2018, the city of Atlanta was hit with a ransomware attack, which left much of the city departments paralyzed as their data and applications were encrypted by the SamSam malware that was deployed by the cybercriminals. After choosing not to pay the $52,000 ransom, the hacker took the demand portal offline and forced the city to fend for itself. That small ransom eventually turned into $2,000,000+ in expenditures in order to get the city up and running. The attack took down or disabled more than a third of Atlanta’s 424 necessary programs and close to 30 percent of their affected apps were listed as “mission critical.” The police lost all of their dash cam recordings. Additionally, the City Attorney’s office lost 10 years worth of documents and all but six of its 77 computers.
On March 22nd, 2018, the city of Atlanta was hit with a ransomware attack, which left much of the city departments paralyzed as their data and applications were encrypted by the SamSam malware that was deployed by the cybercriminals. After choosing not to pay the $52,000 ransom, the hacker took the demand portal offline and forced the city to fend for itself. That small ransom eventually turned into $2,000,000+ in expenditures in order to get the city up and running. The attack took down or disabled more than a third of Atlanta’s 424 necessary programs and close to 30 percent of their affected apps were listed as “mission critical.” The police lost all of their dash cam recordings. Additionally, the City Attorney’s office lost 10 years worth of documents and all but six of its 77 computers.
How Can I Make Sure My Client is Covered?
City governments are huge targets for cyber-attacks. They hold tons of sensitive information, they have significant power within the community, and they may employ controversial political figures. Many times they are viewed as “low hanging fruit” because their systems, cyber security tools and tech processes are outdated. It is imperative that cities, municipalities, and public entities have quality cyber policies in place. This means cyber policies that include coverage for system damage, business interruption, and cyber-crime.
City governments are huge targets for cyber-attacks. They hold tons of sensitive information, they have significant power within the community, and they may employ controversial political figures. Many times they are viewed as “low hanging fruit” because their systems, cyber security tools and tech processes are outdated. It is imperative that cities, municipalities, and public entities have quality cyber policies in place. This means cyber policies that include coverage for system damage, business interruption, and cyber-crime.