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Cyber

Cyber crime is quickly becoming more profitable than the illegal drug trade

With paperless information systems and digital payment methods dominating the modern world, cybersecurity is more important than ever. And while encryption is a foundational security measure that protects payment data from theft, it does not make your Point-of-Sale (POS) system immune to being hacked. While encryption makes data unreadable to attackers, hackers can still attack unencrypted parts of the system, use malware to scape data before it's encrypted, or exploit weak system passwords.

75%

cyber attacks targetting small businesses (SMBs)

$2.6MM

average cost of an SMB data breach

70%

cyber incidents from ransomware

194

average number of days to identify a breach

Changing veterinary business landscape

There is a Point-of-Sale (POS) system in every veterinary hospital in the United States, which creates a constant risk exposure to fraud, data breaches and costly mistakes that cost money and damage reputation. Cyber criminals find new ways to exploit vulnerabilities in POS terminals ranging from sophisticated malware to social engineering tactics. Understanding these threats and how your veterinary hospital is exposed is crucial for implementing effective data loss prevention and mitigation strategies.

POS attacks have become very common. The infamous Target breach in 2013 wasn't just a random event, it was massive wake up call for the retail industry. The Target breach exposed credit card numbers and personal data of up to 70 million customers. But Target is not an isolated incident. Many large businesses have been the victim of such attacks including brands like NVA, Capital One, Coca-Cola, Adobe, Microsoft and more.

But the question to ask yourself if you own or manage a veterinary hospital is simple: If those large businesses with tens of millions of dollars invested in cyber security annually were still attacked and infiltrated, what measures and what protection have you invested in to protect your veterinary business and how would you be impacted financially if you were the target?

Why encryption isn't absolute protection

  • Pre-Encryption Malware: Hackers can install RAM-scraping malware that captures information like credit cards the moment they are swiped, before the terminal encrypts it.
  • Weak Passwords: If your system uses default passwords or lacks multifactor authentication, hackers can gain access to the system backend directly.
  • System Vulnerabilities: Outdated POS software or operating systems can have security holes that criminals can exploit to gain access, even if the payment data itself is encrypted.
  • Physical Tampering: Attackers can install physical skimmers on top of your encrypted readers to capture data before it reaches your secure device.

Other top cyber threats facing SMB's

Small business owners (SMBs) face cyber threats on multiple fronts. Some of most common are:

  • Phishing: Impersonation of legitimate entities to trick employees into revealing information or installing malware
  • Disruption attacks: Targets critical systems, networks, or data, attackers can paralyze operations.
  • Ransomware: Encrypts data and holds it hostage until a ransom is paid. This is the most common threat SMBs face.
  • Supply chain attacks: When a vendor or supplier is breached.

 

The high cost of a data breach

When criminals get access to company systems, they become privy to a vast array of information, including customers’ credit card numbers, addresses and other identifying data. Hackers can also gain access to sensitive business data, which they can use to open and access accounts, drain money and destroy the affected individuals’ credit. Recovering from a business data breach can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and destroy reputation.

Those costs can include things like:

  • Business interruptions: Most SMBs that suffer a major cyber intrusion have to shut down while they investigate the source and impact of the data breach. This can result in a decrease or complete loss of revenue, negative publicity and diminished customer confidence. A shut down can last days, weeks or even months which equal lost profits and in serious cases, a lost business.
  • Security Upgrades: Updating or implementing new security systems and protocols comes with a cost. Investments on infrastructure, software, and training personnel on new policies and procedures are critical before a breach occurs but will be mandatory after they do.
  • Notifying and protecting customers: Many businesses, as a sign of good will, offer free credit monitoring services to customers for a specified period of time after a data breach occurs. These and other perks, such as discounts on services, help regain customer trust and loyalty. However, the credit monitoring is not free to the SMB who suffered the breach and discounts on services cuts into short-term profit margins.
  • Business Closure: Without having the proper cyber security in place combined with a strong level of cyber liability and data breach insurance protection, a shutdown could deplete reserves forcing the business to close.

What does Cyber Liability & Data Breach insurance protect?

A disrupted network is just the beginning of the nightmare of a cyber incident. Lost data, lost productivity, exposed customers, leaked proprietary information - it's all at risk. So, we offer insurance products that can assist with incident response preparation, staying ahead of software vulnerability exploits, improving your front-line defenses, and assist in potentially preventing malicious activity from entering and spreading in your network.

In the digital age of business, cyber liability and data breach insurance is one of the most critical things you can have to prevent a financial disaster in the event of a major data breach. From reimbursing you expenses related to a breach to assisting you with notifying customers of an intrusion, having the right insurance policy can be a game changer to keeping you open and financially viable. Cyber insurance is also a way to help prevent cybercrime from happening to your veterinary hospital, and to resolve the issues you face if you become a victim.

Many insurance carriers who specialize in providing small businesses with this type of coverage offer additional resources and solutions such as:

  • Breach Response Plan Builder: Utilize a customizable, pre-written data breach response plan accessible 24/7 online or via a mobile app.
  • Response Readiness Assessment: Identify gaps in your organization's incident response plan with customized evaluation or receive guidance on creating an IR plan.
  • Virtual Incident Response Exercise: Test your cyber response plan for weaknesses with an interactive simulation, featuring a customer-tailored scenario based on current treats.
  • Incidence Response Mobile App: Access an app for 24/7 incident reporting and response.
  • Recovery Solutions: Software integration ensuring seamless transaction replications across multi-cloud environments for critical applications.

Let's talk cyber for your veterinary hospital

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