Enacy Mapakame
Correspondent
HARARE, As technological advances continue to enable businesses to optimise their operations, these same businesses are now experiencing “headaches” in the form of cybersecurity threats.
So prevalent is the threat that it creates scope for heightened calls to businesses to invest in cybersecurity insurance with haste.
Speaking at the recently held Insurance Institute of Zimbabwe Winter School in Nyanga, SATIB Insurance Brokers general manager Taurai Pambweya highlighted the need for businesses to understand the cybersecurity threats and how to best mitigate them, at a time their prevalence is increasing not only in Zimbabwe but the world over.
“Cybersecurity threats are becoming increasingly common, and businesses need to have adequate insurance coverage in place,” he said.
“Cyber insurance is a crucial component of a comprehensive risk management strategy in today’s digital landscape. It provides financial protection, legal support, and reputation management in the event of a cyber incident,” added Pambweya.
Cyber insurance is a specialised insurance policy designed to protect businesses from financial losses due to cyberattacks, which covers a range of incidents, from data breaches and ransomware attacks to system failures and business interruptions.
Pambweya emphasised that businesses should consider cyber liability insurance to minimise the impacts of cybersecurity threats.
This comes as the prevalence of cybersecurity threats has been growing in line with the increasing digitalisation, which was also spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, which enhanced interconnectivity in government, businesses, individuals, and non-governmental organisations (NGO).
The use of multiple devices from various locations on different networks and locations is cited as another factor exposing businesses to cyber security threats such as data breaches.
According to a Liquid Intelligence Cyber Security Report, which shows the state of the threat in Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, the most common cyber security threats cited are malware, web-application attacks, email phishing and impersonation, identity theft, data breaches, and denial of service.
The report also highlighted that in Zimbabwe, over three quarters of businesses experienced threats during the COVID-19 lockdown periods as cybercriminals took advantage of growing digitalisation to attack digital infrastructure.
In Zimbabwe, notable high-profile cybersecurity crime victims include National Foods, where large sums of US dollars were syphoned from the company accounts. Mobile telecoms firm NetOne’s airtime pin generation application was tempered with, although it was an insider job that also failed.
Experts have maintained that a complete 360-degree review of cyber security is needed to increase knowledge of how to combat cybercriminals.
Pambweya weighed in, saying modern firms need to prioritise maintaining updated cyber security hygiene and investing in cyber insurance to protect their businesses.
“Think of cyber insurance as an umbrella policy that covers various financial losses from cyber-attacks. Cyber liability is a specific piece of that umbrella focussing on legal issues arising from data breaches,” he said.
He further explained that first-party coverage includes cyber incident response, that is, legal fees, forensics, notification costs, credit monitoring, public relations, loss of net profits, and continuing operating expenses from interruptions of the insured’s systems.
It also includes costs to restore or replace lost or damaged data or software, network extortion and reimbursement of extortion payments, and negotiation expenses.
As for third-party coverage, it includes liability for failure to protect the private or confidential information of others or failure of network security, contractual liabilities owed to payment card industry firms because of a cyber incident, defence for regulatory actions, and coverage for fines and penalties, where insurable by law, and liability following defamation or copyright and trademark infringement online costs.
