of breaches occurring during the same time
period last year. as general liability, just as common as business auto,
and it’s going to become much better known.”
According on ITRC’s data, the five biggest industry
sectors experiencing breaches since 2005 were
financial (including banking and credit), health/
medical, government/military, education and
business. This year, the business sector has been
hardest hit, experiencing nearly 55 percent of the
total breaches so far. Just as cyber crime has evolved in recent years,
so have insurance carriers who continue to adapt
cyber liability policies. As a result, Hendrickson
said he anticipates changes as carriers navigate
uncharted territory. Some of those changes could
be related to policy premiums.
The research shows 63 percent of breaches were
caused by various hacking methods, including
phishing, malware and skimming. Although,
employee error/negligence and accidental online
exposure also accounted for many exploited
vulnerabilities.
“The feeling I had then, and still have today, is that
this is our generation’s — for lack of a better term
— umbrella coverage,” he said. “It is something that,
as time goes on, could be one of the more primary
pieces of coverage in our industry, just as common
“There’s not even enough experience yet to be able
to tell if the pricing is appropriate,” he shared. “It’s
a product that’s evolving, and carriers are constantly
tweaking these coverages to adapt to the industry.
Because, if you think about it, every time you read
a media story, there’s always a new type of virus or a
new type of malware, and so they are having to, on
the fly, keep adapting to try to keep up.”
For agents interested in approaching their clients
with a cyber policy, Hendrickson says they shouldn’t
feel intimidated. The process is really no different
than any other insurance contract.
| September - October 2017 | KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER
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