Editorial | Our digital pandemic

The pandemic isn’t over. It’s just moved to the digital universe.

Last week, I attended the annual general meeting of the Canadian Association of Managing General Agents (CAMGA), where keynote speaker Warren Weeks spoke about “building trust through strategic communication.”

Or, perhaps more to the point: How to do crisis communications when your hair is on fire.

His main point? Most organizations aren’t remembered for the bad things that happen to them. They are remembered for how they respond.

When it comes to cyber incidents, brokers and insurers are offering clients crisis communications as part of the cyber insurance package. It’s because once your digital platform is compromised, how you recover becomes paramount.  

I thought about this when something that’s ubiquitous throughout the business world happened to Canadian Underwriter last week. Cybercriminals compromised the part of the system we use to post news stories online. It was a suspected phishing attack.

Fortunately, our subscriber information was not hacked. We lost no company data. Our web services department reacted quickly, immediately shutting the site down to ensure our users could not targeted, and then did an admirable job doing what they had to do to get our website back up and running safely.

But it took two days. And during that time, our audience was wondering where we were. I sent out a message to our subscriber base to let them know what was happening.

Also in the news: Canadian MGAs propose ‘fit-for-purpose’ regulations

We are now back up and running. And I appreciate everyone’s patience with us as we recovered. And thanks to all of those who sent us well wishes, the equivalent of a “get well soon.”

That took my mind back to the pandemic days.

It was like our website was sick for a few days, infected by an illness. (The “cooties,” as my sister would say, referring to imaginary germs we would use to ostracize others.) No one wants to catch the cooties. And so, while your computer system is ill, the patient is confined to a period of inactivity — let’s call it “bed rest” — quarantined from the rest of us, hoping to get better soon.

Cybercrime is now reaching the stage of a digital pandemic. It threatens us all. It affects us all differently. It lasts longer for some than others. In acute cases, it’s terminal to business operations.

CU is lucky. Our infection was more akin to recovering from a common cold. We nursed ourselves back to health quickly, and we have fully regained our digital health. No lasting “deficits,” as my doctor told me after my stroke in 2021. But the lessons of personal hygiene learned during COVID applies in the digital world as well. Cybercriminals are out to get us all. No one is immune. All we can do is take steps to be cautious and prevent the worst from happening to us.