Computer Hacking Caused by Carelessness More Than Cleverness

Phishing, not Phenoms, Cause Most Computer Hacking Problems

It’s not Professor Moriarty, Darth Vader, or even Crabby Appleton who wreak havoc on our computers, it’s our own gullibility. More than two-thirds of the 290 electronic espionage cases studied by Verizon and Symantec involved some- one victimized by phishing (computer- speak for emails that trick you into clicking on a dangerous link), not high-powered hackers. We are just too willing to click on tainted links or email attachments that give the bad guys access to our computers. So many people fall for these ruses that send- ing phishing emails to just 10 employees will get hackers into a business’s computer system 90 percent of the time.

As an insurance professional, you should:

• Educate your clients (and your staff) about safe computing. Clicking a link in response to the message “You’ve got to see this” is going to lead to nothing but trouble.
• Even if safe-computing works all the time, and of course it doesn’t, it won’t protect against the one-third of hack- ing incidents that weren’t the result of biting on a phish hook. For that, insurance is the answer.