by Rory McCrea

CYBER crime seems to be the phrase on the lips of many involved in IT and indeed many who aren’t.

We have all seen the high profile cases in the press involving multi-national organisations and the attacks they are faced with.

Cyber crime has now overtaken physical theft as the most common criminal offence in the UK and new research shows that fraud cases have tripled in Yorkshire and the North East over the last 12 months.

Indeed, why would criminals bother leaving the house when they can generate more money from their back bedroom fighting their way through your virtual security rather than trying to overcome the real thing.

As a business or as an individual, you are now far more likely to be the victim of a cyber attack than an old-fashioned burglary – you also have far more to lose.

Someone breaking in to your house will (if it is anything like mine) leave with a little cash, an old TV and a constantly flat iPad.

Access to your bank account could, however, unleash your life savings or, for a business, leave you unable to pay salaries or cover your latest stock payment.

Large cyber-attacks may make the headlines, but no one is immune and we as individuals as well as companies of all sizes are at risk.

It is important that you assess the risk and make sure you take steps to be as diligent as you can be – many of these steps are simple and carry little cost – such as regularly changing passwords, shredding documents etc.

However, even the most robust procedures are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain – humans – who are a contributing factor in the majority of cyber security incidents.

Cyber insurance could be one solution to help mitigate the impact of a simple human error, as unfortunately mistakes are in our nature.

* Rory McCrea is commercial account executive at D E Ford Insurance Brokers, providing bespoke insurance packages for businesses and charitable organisations. Phone 01904 784141.

* Sponsored content