Being Insured Against the Outcomes of a Cyber Attack

Having an insurance policy in place to protect you and your business from the financial fallout associated with a cyber attack is a prudent business choice. While you have no doubt done your due diligence when it comes to protecting your network, even multi-national organizations that have the most high-tech cyber security imaginable have fallen victim to hackers.

The right insurance plan will cover the costs associated with a breach of your computer systems and customer data. Depending on the extent of your coverage, it may also protect you if a client sues you for any hardships they endured resulting from a breach of their data. 

What Does Cyber Liability Insurance Cover?

This type of insurance typically includes coverage for legal expenses and damages related to crisis management, system restoration, business interruption, and incident response.

Some policies may also cover you for regulatory fines, breach of contract claims from clients, and “social engineering,” which is when an employee is duped into sending funds to a fraudulent third party. Since cyber liability is not a standardized policy, the coverage can vary widely between insurance providers, so make sure you do your homework on what exactly your policy covers.

Who Needs Liability Protection Against Cybercrime?

Basically, anyone who has customers or clients and who uses a computer to store confidential data can benefit from having this type of insurance. If you use a point-of-sale system, your network is particularly vulnerable because hackers love to go after the credit card data stored here. Likewise, if you provide software or hardware services, this could also make your network attractive to hackers.

However, hackers aren’t always so picky. Any business with data stored on a hard drive or cloud could be at risk.

Why Small Businesses Also Need Cybercrime Coverage

If anything, small businesses are the most vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Hackers often target small businesses because their cyber security tends to be less sophisticated, and they don’t typically have IT personnel on staff who can help to prevent these attacks.

Types of Cybercrimes to be on the Lookout For

Malicious software that worms its way onto home and business hard drives has become very sophisticated and harder to detect than ever before. Beware of links and attachments from unknown sources. Phishing is also at an all-time high. While this is usually easier to spot than malware, fraudulent emails aimed at stealing information can be very dangerous, particularly if you click on a link that is embedded in the email.

Hackers are also employing a system called Distributed Denial of Service, which floods a business’s server with requests that overload the system and cause it to crash. These requests also block the system from responding to legitimate requests.

If you would like a quote on cyber liability or any other form of business insurance, contact us today at ISU Armac!