Phishing and hacking are still the main causes of cyber damage. Human error lies behind nine out of ten cases, underlining the importance of employee awareness and training. In addition, incidents at suppliers, such as the CrowdStrike software update that led to a major IT outage, can cause serious disruption to your own business operations. This illustrates the risk of dependency on a single supplier or ‘single supplier risk’.
With the introduction of the NIS2 Directive and the DORA Regulation, businesses are required by the European Union to increase their efforts in the area of cyber security. Those that fail to comply are at risk of penalties. These rules are an important step in increasing businesses’ resilience against cyber attacks.
Last year, Vanbreda arranged a new cyber policy for a Belgian business every two working days. Although this points to a growing awareness of the risks, there are still companies that underestimate the dangers. This is often because a business feels less targeted by cyber criminals or thinks it can absorb the financial loss itself.
However, our figures show that the consequences of a cyber attack can be very serious. For example, an incident in which the temperature of cold stores is tampered with or the order system is encrypted can bring activity to a standstill, causing damage to the business. Industrial companies (food producers) and commercial businesses (such as supermarkets) are already heavily represented in our cyber portfolio (see graph).
Cyber incidents represent a growing risk for the food industry. As a company, there are various ways in which you can give yourself better protection, such as regular training for your employees, a strong password policy (= multi-factor authentication) and keeping your security software up to date.
As a risk consultant, we engage closely with risk prevention on a daily basis, and would be happy to use this expertise to give your company the guidance it needs. Our services fall into four categories:
- Cyber workshops to give you a better understanding of your cyber risks as a business, the steps you can take to respond to risks more consciously, the financial impact of a cyber incident, organisational measures to improve protection against incidents, and so on
- Cyber insurance to absorb the financial impact and cover the cost of crisis management in the areas of IT, legal and PR
- Phishing training (Phishing as a Service) to test your employees’ ability to spot phishing emails
- Support with drawing up continuity and incident plans (BCPs and CIRPs)
Would you like more information about solutions to protect your business against cyber risks? Contact us at
