Cyber breaches continue to occur around the world, with companies big and small being targeted by criminals and hackers, who then either sell the data on the web for money or attempt to get ransoms from the company.
Recently, Singtel-owned Optus was the target of a massive data breach, with more than 10 million customers’ data being compromised. Home addresses, drivers’ licences, passport numbers were among the data that were stolen. Hackers then released the information of about 10000 customers in an online forum and threatened to release more unless Optus paid them $1 million in cryptocurrency.
Closer to home, Starbucks Singapore had its database compromised, with 330,000 customers’ data being breached and put up for sale on online forums for $3500 per copy. Personal information such as names, home addresses and email addresses were taken. This may potentially lead to phishing and scam attempts by bad actors in the weeks and months ahead on these customers, similar to the incident which involved OCBC where 470 customers lost money to the tune of at least $8.5 million.
The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) recently concluded its investigation into MyRepublic’s data breach in Sep 2021. MyRepublic Singapore was ordered to pay S$60,000 for failing to protect the information of almost 80,000 customers. The financial penalty would have been higher if not for the proactive and timely efforts made by the company once it discovered the breach.
With the increase in the number of cyber incidents in recent years, companies and individuals ought to step up vigilance and be aware of the potential ways that they may be targeted by bad actors and take steps to prevent and minimize such incidents from occuring.
Companies will also be wise to proactively apply security patches and also to ensure that they are well insured against potential cyber incidents. Having a comprehensive cyber insurance ensures that the company will minimize its losses from potential lawsuits and also have access to specialist firms helping with data recovery and protection etc in the event of a cyber incident. This is especially helpful for small companies as these recovery services do not come cheap.
Contact MAKinsure today to review or get started on your company’s insurance coverage.