Cyber Liability and Crime: Are You At Risk?

You’ve heard it in the news, or perhaps it’s happened to you: a reputable, trusted business has been hacked, and sensitive, personal information could be in the wrong hands. In todays always-online, technology-driven business environment, keeping information secure is more important than ever before. This is especially true for any business that holds the personal information of their employees and patrons in their systems. Businesses need to be concerned with the security of their computer networks as well as the record keeping policies and procedures that employees must follow.

Cybercrime can be defined simply as committing a crime via the internet. While this is a pretty broad definition (though for good reason), one major concern is on safeguarding against intrusive cyber crime, or hacking. Hackers typically look for weak spots in online networks, and dig for information that they can later use in a criminal manner. Unfortunately, all online networks can have weak spots, such as; outdated networks, obvious or old passwords, firewalls with several holes and network hosts running unnecessary services.

The human factor is another major concern. Cyber criminals often play on the naievity of computer users by attaching malware to programs or files, disguising it as useful information for download, or simply emailing it as an attachment that launches upon opening the email. Viruses, worms and trojans are all common forms of malware that make their way into computers via user error. Users can also be easily taken advantage of by cyber criminals simply because of negligence. Using public computers, writing down passwords and saving passwords to a computer leaves the user, and potentially the company, wide open for attack.

While the prevention of cyber crime goes beyond the scope of our business, we know how detrimental it can be to your bottom line. That is why we are partnering with Arthur J. Gallagher to bring to you valuable information regarding the variety of cyber crimes risks that can threaten your business, and how to help safeguard against them. At the seminar, you’ll learn to assess the risks your business faces when doing business online, and what you can do about them. You’ll also have the chance to interact with two experts on cyber liability, risk and crime. If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please call our Des Moines office. We hope you’ll join us for this important, complimentary seminar!