Hiscox CyberClear Academy – build your SME’s cyber human firewall

Our new Hiscox CyberClear Academy is a Government-certified online cyber security training platform designed to raise cyber security awareness among employees and help protect your small business from cyber threats.

This is our response to clear evidence that employees represent the weakest link in the cyber security chain. One of the single most effective actions any business can take to minimise the risk of a cyber incident occurring is to raise internal awareness and understanding of the cyber threat.

Employees responsible for more than two thirds of cyber incidents

In an 18-month period up to September 2017, we found that 67% of the cyber-related insurance claims we received from businesses were caused directly by employee error, negligence or social engineering. This could be anything from employees clicking suspect links on websites, to opening attachments containing viruses, divulging sensitive information like passwords, or simply losing a device or documents – these two errors alone resulted in 8% of the cyber claims we received.

Each year, we realease the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report. In the 2018 report, we looked at the cyber security preparations of more than 4,000 companies and consistently found that those firms who were best prepared were the ones that incorporated security training and awareness throughout their workforce. Over 80% of those firms said ‘increased employee training has reduced the number of cyber incidents that disrupt our business’ and employee training was present at almost every company (97%) that ranked as ‘Cyber Expert’. This figure was significantly lower for the Cyber Novices, at under 40%.

GCHQ-accredited cyber training

Given the overwhelming evidence in favour of better cyber security training and awareness – and with the imminent launch of the EU’s tough new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) data laws in May – we have looked at how we can help our clients get access to high quality cyber training for their employees.

The result is the Hiscox CyberClear Academy. Accredited by the Government Communications Head Quarters (GCHQ) – currently one of only two training platforms to have achieved this mark –  it is available to all new and existing businesses with a revenue below £10 million who have bought our Hiscox Cyber and Data Risks Insurance.

Watch to find out how the Hiscox CyberClear Academy can help protect your business from cyber threats.

Tailored and intuitive

Intuitive and easy to use, the online-based Hiscox CyberClear Academy offers four distinct learning areas with modules covering topics such as:

• protecting personal information
• social engineering attempts
• phishing
• password safety

At the start, employees take a brief assessment to test their understanding and identify which modules they need to complete  –  if they already have the knowledge, they don’t have to go through all of the content. Every module finishes with a test and cannot be passed until their assessment has been successful.

The Hiscox CyberClear Academy offers continuous learning with content provided to employees at regular intervals – to help guard against complacency – but also recognising that most employees will be pushed for time.

A far-reaching cyber defence

We think the Hiscox CyberClear Academy gives businesses of all sizes access to high quality, effective cyber security training for their employees and will not only help them to stay cyber compliant with the arrival of the GDPR, but also provide a far-reaching defence against the cyber threat.

Details of how to access the Hiscox CyberClear Academy will be included in your documents when you buy or renew our cyber and data risks insurance.

If you want to find out more about this policy, please visit our Cyber Insurance FAQs. Here, you will also find access to more cyber safety resources from Hiscox.