Since last year we have seen a number of changes being implemented in our way of life, most significantly the adoption of remote working. Home office brings its benefits, but also particular challenges, one of which has to do with cyber security. Online commerce and the transmission of important information from terminals without the security of a protected local network have grown significantly and with it so have attacks by hackers.

There has been an extraordinary increase in attacks that use the coronavirus theme to generate a "bait", the information offered exploits the user's fear and distraction to lead them to click on malicious links and gain access to sensitive data, be it banking or other confidential data.

Another point of caution is when connecting to a new network - it may seem attractive to connect to a free WiFi server in public places such as restaurants or airports, but the network may not be secure and people may be able to intercept data traffic.

As a good security practice, it is recommended to always encrypt important or confidential information, not to use the same password every time, to keep software versions up to date (as vulnerabilities are periodically found and fixed) and to keep offline backups. Some additional protections involve the use of VPNs and firewalls, even at home.

It is characteristic of such attacks that they are detected months after the infiltration has occurred, when much material has been compromised and the damage has been done. In terms of insurance, this is why cover against cyber attack damage is often retroactive.

Fidex has protection and insurance programmes against cyber-attack damage, contact us to find out which scheme is best for your company.