The act of social engineering, or persuading people to divulge confidential data, is unfortunately not a novel concept. According to Butwin Insurance Group, a social engineer is nothing more than a con man who uses technology to swindle people and manipulate them into disclosing passwords or bank information or granting access to their computer. Due to these schemes, it’s imperative for your clients to understand how they work to protect their operation. In turn, better internal controls and risk management can be established. Even more importantly, however, is ensuring your clients are secured with a Cyber Liability Insurance Program.  

One of the more common schemes includes fraudulent fund transfers, which can occur during the following scenarios:

The con artist poses as a vendor and convinces an employee to transfer money to them.

1. An employee is negligent and allows for such a transfer to take place. 
2. A hacker breaks into the network and transfers money independently. 
3. An employee enters what he or she believes to be legitimate information and turns out to be fraudulent. 
4. A disgruntled employee assists in the fraudulent money transfer. 
5. The fraudster sends hacked links to an employee and when they are clicked, the hacker is allowed into the network. Lastly, the schemer convinces an employee to provide the necessary credentials to hack into the network. 

While the right insurance policies can provide the necessary financial and legal protection your clients need in the event of a breach, proactive risk management strategies are still a great line of defense for preventing these fraudulent schemes. At the very least, experts recommend avoiding the following:

• Before completing a fund transfer of any kind, examine the wire instructions. Never add or edit the instructions without first verifying that they came directly from the recipient. 
• Next, never open an attachment or confirm confidential information via email. If an email response is required, ensure that when hitting “reply” the appropriate email shows up in the response address. Otherwise, it could be a hacker! 

At Irving Weber Associates, we are dedicated to your clients’ success. Our fundamental coverages provide the policies they need in order to be properly secured. Whether your clients need cyber protection or workers’ compensation for their laundry business, we can customize a policy suited just for their needs. For more information, we invite you to contact us today at 855-661-4557.