KIA&B 2017 Vol. 22, No.5 | Page 24

A Western Kansas Agent’s Cyber Journey Shawn Myers Shares his Professional Evolution. D uring a routine visit from a marketing representative in 2009 I heard for the first time the words cyber liability insurance. A brief explanation of this relatively new coverage followed. Puzzled and intrigued, I asked a few follow-up questions and then quickly put it to the back of my mind. As I returned back to work that day, I wondered to myself how relevant this coverage was. Consider that, at the time, the world had not heard of the breaches at Target, Home Depot, Sony, or Equifax. Geographic location often insulates people and communities into a false sense of security, so we would often face objections when explaining this new coverage. But with the increased use of technology for business, and connectivity of the world as a result, this new policy type would soon be on the top of everyone’s mind. Fast forward to the winter of 2013, Target announced to the world that credit card numbers and related information of more than 100 million customers had been compromised. The general public was on notice, and “data breach” became a household term. The highly public nature of this particular breach allowed for a talking point with our clients. Still, clients were not ready to discuss cyber liability insurance as a part of their Risk Management Program. As 22 KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER | September - October 2017 |