Cyber Liability: Yes, You Need This
While you may have heard of, or even been victim to, some of the most recent major cyber attacks – I’m here to tell you it is no longer safe to hide behind the notion that big box stores and major financial institutions are the only ones suffering from data breaches of this kind. 
The truth is that 30% of breaches are actually occurring in small businesses; we are talking restaurants, the café down the street, retail shops, anyone taking personal information of any kind. We started preaching Cyber Liability back before it was even cool and since then not much has changed, other than the need is growing. For those of you still on the fence about adding this coverage to your current insurance portfolio, let’s hash out a few of the details:
What Could Happen?
Well, the name of the game here is Personally Identifiable Information. Haven’t heard this term yet? Get used to hearing it. This is the information you collect on your customers, clients and vendors that contains detail specific to them; social security numbers, dates of birth, medical information, credit card numbers. Breaches can happen in many different ways but the prime culprit is a malicious attack by an outside party and once that information is out of the cushiony warm safety of your system, you are on the hook for fixing the situation.
Wait, What Do I Have to Do Now?
Good question, a lot of that will depend on your state. Most states, 48 to be exact, require you to notify those whose information has been compromised. Each state has different requirements about what will trigger the notification process (like how large of a breach warrants a notification, etc.) and how many days you have before sending out said notification (in Vermont you have 45 days, New Hampshire just says “in a timely manner”). Regardless, once you’ve been compromised the clock starts ticking and the fun doesn’t stop with notifications; you may be facing hefty fines – between $95-$315 PER RECORD, lost clients, law suits, not to mention all the fancy PR footwork you’ll have to do to convince your community that it’s still safe to do business with you.
So How Can I Protect My Business?
IT’S SO EASY. Seriously, I think business owners shy away from adding this coverage because they think it will cost them a mint and they don’t really understand what it is -- yada, yada, yada. Cost will ultimately depend on the insurance company, the size of your business and other variables, but we are finding that it in most cases adding this coverage to your portfolio is surprisingly reasonable. What does this reasonably priced coverage do? Well, again, that depends on what the carrier is offering but here is a non-exhaustive list of what the standard coverage provides:
- Data Breach Notification Costs
- Forensic IT – the cost to have someone investigate the breach; who, how, where, why and how much
- Public Relations & Crisis Management Cost
- Credit Monitoring Services
- Identity Theft Services
- Legal Defenses
Other add-ons may include but are not limited to:
- Loss of Business Income from a breach
- Extortion – Yes, this is really happening!
- Regulatory fines
- And much more
If you would like a quote on Cyber Liability, or want to know more about what you can do to protect your business from a malicious attack, or any type of cyber breach, call me directly at (877-352-2121 ext. 285) or email me at bkingsbury@clark-mortenson.com.
