Understanding Cyber Insurance for Charities #1

Charities and not-for-profit organisations often hold sensitive information such as donor data, financial records, and beneficiaries' personal information. This, combined with less frequently reviewed cyber security, makes them attractive targets for cyber-criminals. The following are some of the most common cyber threats for charities:

▶ Phishing is a form of social engineering where cybercriminals attempt to steal sensitive information by posing as a trustworthy entity in emails, texts, social media messages, or calls.

▶ Ransomware is malware that encrypts files on a computer system and demands payment for the decryption key. It can cause significant disruption and financial losses for individuals and organisations.

▶ Viruses are malware that can replicate themselves and spread to other computers. They could cause damage to computer systems, corrupt files, and steal personal information.

▶ Data breaches occur when an unauthorised party accesses personal or sensitive data. They could result in identity theft, financial fraud, fines, extortion and reputational damage.

▶ Identity theft/impersonation is the unauthorised use of someone's personal information and is often combined with phishing attacks.

▶ Website hacking/takedowns refer to making a website unavailable to its intended users, often through distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Hackers could also edit some code or redirect the site to harmful sites and make your web visitors targets of cybercrime.

▶ Online financial fraud can occur through phishing attacks, extortion in ransom demands or stealing donor payment information.