Risk & Business Magazine Cal LeGrow Fall 2015 | Page 27

Q: Why are smaller businesses possibly
more prone to a cyber attack?
A: It’s a common misconception
that cyber crime only happens to big
companies. Large corporations have
entire IT departments, monitored
firewalls and the most up to date virus
software available. The small business
is focused on running their operation
and prides themselves at being the
expert in their field, not in cyber
protection. Safeguarding their internal
technology is far down on the priority
list. This makes them an easier
target for the cyber criminal.
Q: So how does a cyber
crime affect a small business
owner financially?
A: A cyber loss can be
devastating. These businesses
are crippled when their
network is shut down due to
a privacy breach, and this
leads to a loss of income.
They lose accessibility,
market share and the
long-term loss
of credibility
amongst
clients.

When breaches of security happen,
clients view your company in a skewed
way. They trusted you with their
business and confidential information.
Now that this element of trust is
compromised, they typically don’t feel
comfortable and may end up switching
companies completely. There is also
the liability issue regarding how this
stolen information is used. If this
information leads to a financial loss, the
business owner could be held liable. A
cyber liability policy provides coverage
for the majority of these costs.
Q: What about a commercial
general liability policy, doesn’t
that cover cyber crime?
A: Definitely not. Commercial
General Liability onl 䁍