COVID-19’s colossal impacts are far-reaching and evolving at a rapid-fire pace; everyday life has changed radically, and the vulnerabilities of the global population struggling to run business from home and increasingly reliant on technology have created pristine conditions for ambitious and skilled cyber criminals to prosper. Evolving technology in the last decade especially has also changed the nature of your company’s assets; they are now potentially accessible to anyone and from anywhere in the world. Social engineering fraud (SEF) is a top global concern and represents a significant threat to all businesses and with no exceptions. Small to large businesses, non-profit organizations to large corporations and tech companies exist on a level playing field of vulnerability. All businesses represent opportunity to a cyber criminal.
Social engineering fraud encompasses a staggering variety of techniques used by cyber criminals in their deception and manipulation of victims. Social engineering masters gain the trust of their victims by posing as persons of authority (such as the CEO of the company they work for) or as known third-party vendors convincing them to disclose confidential information, transfer company funds, or even to access embedded links by using email (phishing), text messaging (smishing), and phone calls (vishing) to accomplish their malicious intentions.
Strong company policies and procedures, robust IT security, and recurring employee education are critical preventative safeguards; however, it is still very difficult to prevent SEF one hundred percent of the time. Social engineering fraud coverage is essential in protecting your business from its potentially devasting results.
Note that coverage can be offered under either a crime policy or a cyber policy. Risk Balance can help you understand exactly what coverage and limitations your current policy offers and decide if your policy adequately provides coverage for losses resulting from theft, fraud or deception. Your coverage must reflect the reality that social engineering targets businesses using many different strategies in accomplishing their malicious goals; the costs of verifying and preparing the documentation proving the fraud must also be included in the policy’s coverage.
Contact us to confirm the specifics of your coverage and its suitability to your needs in the current climate of cyber risk.