Would you consider NOT having a general business liability insurance policy? What about insurance for your property and equipment? Of course, you wouldn’t!
These types of insurance have been considered a cost of doing business since Lloyd’s of London was started in 1688. Fast forward – past the Industrial Revolution – and into the Information Age and a LOT has changed.
Today, many businesses’ most important assets are 100% digital. These assets are also typically stored in various systems, across many different (physical) places. It’s also difficult to understand if these assets are properly protected. If a thief walks in your office and starts stealing filing cabinets, that’s obvious. If the same thief does it from across the globe, over the Internet, that’s not obvious.
Many insurance policies have cyber liability riders and some form of coverage against loss due to hacking or unauthorized access. The reality is that the majority of these coverages will not protect your business in the event of a cyber event when you actually need it!
Examples of coverage you need to make sure you have are:
- Data Loss – Believe it or not, a large majority of carriers have an exclusion in their policy for the replacement, reproduction & restoration of data.
- Privacy Liability – Covers the theft, loss or unauthorized disclosure of Personally Identifiable Non-Public Information or Third Party Corporate Information that is in your care, custody or control.
- Privacy Breach Notification – According to NetDiligence’s “Cyber Liability & Data Breach Insurance Claims” report, the median number of records lost was 1,000 and the cost per‐record was $107.14. This is a $100,000 claim. You need coverage to notify the affected individuals as well as the potential expenses arising from credit monitoring.
- Public Relations & Crisis Management – If a breach does occur and your company makes the newspaper or network news, you better believe your competition will use this against your credibility. You need coverage for the costs associated to hire a public relations firm to avert or mitigate material damage against your reputation.
- Regulatory Defense and Penalties – Most companies are now having to sign Business Associate Agreements with their healthcare clients or comply with some sort of regulation in this ever-changing environment. This coverage will pay for claims expenses and penalties in which you would become legally obligated to pay as a result of a violation of a Privacy Law.
- Cyber Threats & Extortion – Many experts see this as “the next big thing” – to threaten organizations with financial trouble, loss of data, and even going out of business. This coverage is needed for the reimbursement of credible threats to introduce malicious code in order to corrupt, damage, or destroy your computer system.
Many of these coverages are new and are being sold by your “normal” insurance agent that typically is not aware of the breadth and depth of cyber coverage needed in today’s business environment. At Stringfellow we want to ensure all our Clients have the coverage they need and are now offering coverage for the events above as part of our Managed Services Agreements. Contact us today to learn more about how we can partner together to keep your business protected in the Information Age!
