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t was only a few years ago when Ross
Hendrickson noticed a disturbing trend.
Corporate retailers, chain restaurants and
other large-scale businesses were finding themselves
the victims of data breaches so significant their losses
were reaching well into the millions. But the price
they paid wasn’t just measured in dollars. As part of his plan, Hendrickson, who serves
as president of MRH Insurance Group, made
sure his staff became certified in cyber liability,
learning the basics of IT exposures, cyber
coverages and risk management. Once certified,
the agency began seeking out various markets to
begin promoting the coverage.
The well-publicized breaches were causing doubt
among consumers, wondering how well their
personal information would be protected in the
future, or if the business would once again leave
itself vulnerable. Hendrickson could see he had
to do something to protect his clients – small-town
Kansas businesses that didn’t have the resources or
deep enough pockets to combat a breach. “I’m still of the opinion that if you don’t bring it
up as an agent, it’s very likely it’s still not being
brought up,” he advises. “It has to, for the most
part, start with the agency so that the client
understands that they actually do have exposure.
Very rarely do you run across accounts that don’t
have some kind of exposure . . . obviously some
have a lot more than others.”
“We didn’t get into cyber liability because we
were getting requests from clients,” Hendrickson
explained. “I was monitoring and seeing what was
going on in the media in breach after breach. And
at that point, I made the decision to try to be on
the leading edge of this.” The number of U.S. data breaches occurring in
2017 through June 30 hit a half-year high of 791,
according to information provided by the Identity
Theft Resource Center (ITRC) and CyberScout.
The number is significant, officials said, because it
illustrates a 29-percent increase from the amount
KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER | September - October 2017 |