Cyber Risk: Home Office | ELEMENT Insurance

It's official: more than 10 million Germans work exclusively in a home office now. A new study by the federal association Bitkom shows how flexible working conditions have become due to the Covid 19 pandemic. However, the new working conditions - often quickly decided upon and implemented - also have a downside: damage from cyber-attacks has increased rapidly.

Latest figures and statistics from the identity verification provider IDNow show that there has been a 250% increase in fraud attempts on the internet, since the beginning of the pandemic. Currently, various sources estimate that the worldwide damage from cyber fraud in 2021 will be worth a staggering 6 trillion dollars. The country with the most registered fraud attempts: Germany.

That cyber fraud cases and attacks in the home office are increasing exponentially could be observed very quickly. Already in the first week of the lockdown (March 2020) in Germany, the number of cyber-attacks increased overall by 40%. The victims: individuals and companies of all sizes. Medium-sized businesses are particularly affected.

With new and old fraud schemes, cyber criminals try to take advantage of digitalisation. The most popular fraud scheme still is identity theft. There was a sharp increase especially in similarity fraud (230%) and fake ID fraud (180%), both different schemes of identity theft.

While large companies with technical know-how and the matching financial resources can react quickly to new security requirements - 98% have already adapted their cyber security strategy - the situation is quite different for private individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This is where special insurance solutions can help.

Cyber insurance for SMEs

SMEs have very different needs in terms of protection against cyber-crime than an internationally operating large corporation. In particular, special and industry-dependent coverage concepts must be integrated into insurance solutions that, on the one hand, provide preventive services, e.g., training of employees. On the other hand, it must be ensured that damage can be mended immediately in order to keep operations running; this is ensured, for example, by IT forensics experts who can restore data. Nonetheless, industry-specific and customised cyber insurances are still uncommon.

Therefore, commercial cyber protection for SMEs is still a niche product, but demand will increase rapidly in the coming years. Insurance experts are certain that business with cyber policies will double by 2024. In terms of commercial cyber protection, ELEMENT offers a solution and is technically able to adapt the product for different sectors and industries. IT security in the home office and in the office can thus be guaranteed. Read our case study for the artisanal food trade.

Private cyber insurance

What about private cyber insurance for individuals? It is a fact that in home office, much more is purchased online via mobile devices. Cyber criminals have recognised this and adapted their methods. Many new malware programmes are explicitly targeted at mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Identity theft via mobile apps and unsecured WLAN networks is just one of the many ways criminals use to exploit this behaviour. Infiltrating smartphones with spyware has likewise become a common method of tapping into sensitive data. The damage is often only noticed when it is too late.  

What many people don't know is that ELEMENT already has a suitable insurance product for this, which was developed together with Vodafone. It is taken out entirely via the smartphone and offers comprehensive insurance protection against Internet fraud for the whole family. With private cyber insurance from ELEMENT, individuals are optimally protected against online fraud and cyber-crime. Integrate our insurance solution into your portfolio and offer your customers modern cyber insurance. Find out more in our case study.