CYBER LIABILITY
WHY EVEN SMALL
BUSINESSES NEED
“I started my career at State
Farm Insurance Canada,
spending five years working
in various areas within the
auto claims department.
BY: BRENDA FLETCHER
After State Farm, I wanted
CYBER RISK SPECIALIST
to expand my skills
BENSON KEARLEY IFG
and knowledge in the
insurance industry and took an opportunity at The Boiler
Inspection & Insurance Company of Canada, where I
handled specialty lines claims, including commercial cyber.
It became very clear there was a gap in knowledge, and
a need in the industry for education on cyber products.
Benson Kearley IFG recognized this need, and together
we hope to educate our partners in risk so they may make
informed decisions when purchasing cyber insurance
products.” – Brenda Fletcher
CYBER
LIABILITY
PROTECTION
D
o you think your business is
so small that it is safe from
cyber-attacks? No matter how
small your business, if you have
a computer and a customer list,
you are vulnerable to being hacked. Most
hackers in this day and age realize that
larger organisations are taking every means
possible to protect themselves and their
customer data with sophisticated software
tools and resident IT experts. So hackers
have set their sights on smaller, more
vulnerable organizations.
Yet the problem is far from hypothetical.
Research by the National Cyber Security
Alliance shows that at least half of all cyber-
attacks now target small businesses, defined
as those with fewer than 250 employees.
Even more alarming, multiple reports
show that half of all small businesses have
already been breached—often without
even the knowledge of company leadership.
Sadly, about 60 percent of small businesses
affected by these attacks are so damaged
28
that they end up going out of business
within six months.
YOUR COMPANY IS
RESPONSIBLE FOR
PROTECTING YOUR
CLIENT’S SENSITIVE
INFORMATION
If you store information about your
clients or customers on your network,
you have a legal responsibility to them to
ensure that their private and confidential
information is kept safe. This also includes
information about your employees that
may be stored on your company network.
There are third-party businesses that can
provide protection against threats to your
company’s sensitive information. However,
you can still be held liable for a security
breach in your network even if you have
hired one of these companies.
Businesses that do not collect personal
information are still at risk of having their
computer systems held for ransom. This
can result in downtime, loss of revenue to
your business, and additional costs to get
your business back up and running.
A cyber insurance policy can help protect
your business financially in the event of an
attack. Policies can differ widely and there
are no set minimum criteria, so you’ll have
to work closely with your agent to find the
policy that’s best for your organization.
Here are some basic coverage areas to
consider:
• Third-party damage covering
violations committed by a
subcontractor you hire, such as a mail-
order house or fulfillment centre
• Business interruption, in the event
that damage to your computer systems
leaves your company unable to
function for some period of time
• Credit monitoring services, allowing
customers suffering data exposure to
periodically check their credit status