Insurers offer specialist cover for Facebook, Twitter attacks
19 September, 2012
Internet troll' and 'Facebook hacking' are terms few had heard of until recently. But now online abuse and identify theft have become so common that social media users are being sold specialist insurance to help protect their reputation in case of an attack, reports Daily Mail.
Hacking of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media accounts - where another user logs in and posts derogatory or offensive messages - can cause huge damage to an individual or business's image. The Mail reports a UK-based information privacy company has launched the country's first social media insurance to specifically protect against reputational damage, account jacking and ID theft. Justin Basini, CEO of the company providing the service, ALLOW, said that insurance "perhaps wouldn't have been needed a few years ago."
He added: "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." The cover - at a cost of £3.99 a month - will pay for legal advice and support if someone suffers an online attack and seeks some form of redress. It includes the cost of disabling accounts, suppressing offensive material and stopping any legal action triggered by hacking, for example if a hacker posts illegal material under a victim's name.
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