The increasingly serious and large-scale nature of cyberattacks is creating problems for organizations and clients of all sizes. Companies face the risk of financial loss and reputational ruin, while their customers face the prospect of having their personal details fall into the hands of criminals.
In an effort to curb the rising incidence of cybercrimes in Canada,
Aviva Canada has rolled out further enhancements to its identity theft coverage for existing customers, making it one of the most comprehensive coverages on the market.
The changes include an increased limit of $40,000 per policy term for all identity theft expense claims. In addition, customers will also be given a $5,000 per policy term limit to cover any financial loss brought about by such crime. Another new feature is the introduction of round-the-clock credit bureau monitoring and the issuance of two credit bureau reports for six months after an identity theft claim.
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The insurance firm is also giving its clients free access to theft caseworkers, which helps to identify and restore lost finances and compromised personal information as quickly as possible.
Aviva Canada chief underwriting officer Phil Gibson said the upsurge of cybercrime cases has seen Canadians lose $40 million, with millennials and Generation Z members being the natural targets for such online scams due to their presence on different social media platforms.
In fact, losses resulting from online scams and identity theft among Canadians exceeded $290 million between January 2014 and December 2016.
Gibson said the enhancement aims to address the growing number of identity theft cases. Interestingly, the launch coincides with the celebration of Cyber Security Awareness month this October. In line with the commemoration, the insurance firm also released an educational video with tips and reminders on how to prevent and avoid cyber theft.
The video includes guidelines from the Ontario Securities Commission, which lay out certain factors that put potential targets’ identities at risk. Below are some of the things that could compromise individuals’ identities:
- Entering credit card information online on a non-secure website,
- Clicking an email link from what looks like a legitimate bank or online shopping service (e.g. PayPal) and entering account information,
- Giving out a credit card’s three-digit security code over the phone to a scammer who claims to be from a financial institution
- Making personal information available to others
“We want to empower people to protect themselves online and in daily interactions where they might be vulnerable,” Gibson said.
