Insurer offers social media hacking coverage
Cases of ID theft, hacking and subsequent reputation damage are on the rise — particularly through social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. But a London-based privacy firm has come up with a solution — insurance protection.Hundreds of thousands of Facebook accounts are hacked every day, and Twitter accounts are no safer. A recent report from Norton warns that hackers are increasingly moving into the mobile and social space. Hacking often sees offensive messages posted in the victim’s name and can seriously damage the reputation or an individual or business.In collaboration with Legal Insurance Management, privacy firm ALLOW has just launched Britain’s first anti-hacking insurance policy. The £3.99 ($6.50) a month cover will pay for IT advice and support if someone suffers an online attack. It also includes the cost of disabling accounts, suppressing offensive material and stopping any legal action resulting from a hacker posting illegal material using a victim’s name.“This is a unique piece of consumer social media protection, which perhaps wouldn’t have been needed a few years ago,” said Justin Basini, ALLOW’s CEO. “That’s all changed now. Every internet user faces a certain level of risk that one day a digital criminal will target them or that they will suffer damage to their reputation.”ALLOW’s new consumer product covers up to £10,000 ($16,000) in professional fees and ancillary costs for any one incident in respect of identity theft or account jacking is offered, or £3,500 ($5,700) in respect of any reputational damage.The service is available via the ALLOW Protect service, which also allows users to monitor how their personal data is used online.