You think cybercrime won’t affect you, and so do other accounting firms – but it could! Read some real examples of organisations which suffered at the hands of cybercrime (as provided by Cyber Shield underwriters): 

Ransomware attack

A small accounting firm (10 staff member) endured a ransomware attack. An invoice attachment in an email was opened which contained a Crypt locker virus. The office computers froze and a message appeared on screen demanding $8,000, which would increase by a further $1,200 per day until it was paid.

Conclusion
Including the payment of the ransom, IT forensics, business interruption costs and PR costs, the total cost to the business was $83,660.

Loss of sensitive data

An advisor suffered from a burglary. A number of devices, which contained the personal information of clients and personnel, were stolen. Despite the information being encrypted, the criminals could still gain access to the information. Several clients became victims of identity theft and as a result sued the firm for damages.

Conclusion
The advisor incurred significant costs totalling $140,000.

Malware attack

Type of attack: Malware
Total cost: $144,300

Close to the end of a financial quarter when client BAS Statements were due to be lodged, an accounting firm suffered a breach when a staff member opened an email attachment, which unbeknown to them was infected with malware. The virus spread immediately, slowing down the system and damaging all data the firm held.

Unfortunately, the accountant only backed up their files every 48 hours. Subsequently they lost 2 days of data and suffered significant business interruption as a result of not having their systems back up and running at full capacity for 2 weeks.

The total costs incurred in this case were close to $144,300. Fortunately Cyber Shield covers cases like this plus many other cyber crime related incidences.