Risk & Business Magazine General Insurance Services Magazine | Page 7

CYBER LIABILITY INSURANCE
located downtown. The policy can be
tailored to meet the specific needs of
each company and may include one or
more of the following types of insurance
coverage:
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privacy penalties
cyber terrorism
extortion
protection of network assets
security and privacy liability
security breach response costs
audit or regulatory claim expenses
YOUR BUSINESS INSURANCE POLICY
MAY NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE
COVERAGE FOR CYBER THREATS
While you may already have a general
liability insurance policy for your
business, you should be aware that most
of these policies designed for businesses
do not provide coverage for any type
of cyber-related risks or exposures.
Although there are some business
insurance plans that have limited cyber
liability coverage, they will not offer the
same level of coverage that you would
receive from an actual cyber liability
insurance plan.
THE TYPE OF BUSINESSES THAT
SHOULD HAVE CYBER LIABILITY
INSURANCE COVERAGE
Any business that conducts transactions
online involving sensitive data such
as credit card numbers, bank account
information, social security numbers,
addresses, and other important data
should have some sort of cyber liability
insurance in place. At one time, the type
of businesses who needed CLI policies
was limited. However, today it is hard to
find a business that couldn’t benefit from
this type of policy.
YOUR COMPANY IS RESPONSIBLE
FOR PROTECTING YOUR CLIENTS'
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 personal details
are always 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.
CYBER LIABILITY INSURANCE
COVERAGE CAN HELP WITH
DOWNTIME FOR YOUR BUSINESS DUE
TO A VIRUS
If your company experiences a virus that
causes a complete wipe of your system,
leaving you with nothing to work with
afterwards, you will need insurance
coverage to help you recover from this
severe type of damage. A good CLI
policy can also provide protection if your
company accidentally sends a virus to a
customer or a business partner.
CLI POLICIES CAN PROTECT AGAINST
EXPOSURE TO SENSITIVE MATERIAL
If you store customer credit card
information on your servers for
automatic payments, your company
needs to have access to some type of
cyber liability insurance plan. Storing
this type of sensitive information on
your network can create exposure and
puts the data at a high risk of being lost
or stolen. Any company that accepts
payment by credit card online is at risk
of a potential cyber threat in the future.
STORING INFORMATION ON A
PORTABLE DEVICE CAN ALSO PUT
YOUR COMPANY AT RISK
If you store vital information on a laptop,
external hard drive, or any other type
of portable device, you are exposing
your company to the potential theft
of proprietary information and your
customers and employees to a high risk
of having their identities stolen. And if
that wasn’t bad enough, your company
can be held liable for any identity thefts
that occur. It is your responsibility
to store your customer and employee
information securely. If you are unsure
about the level of security that you
have for this information, you should
think about taking out a cyber liability
insurance policy as soon as possible.
Keep in mind that every
cyber liability insurance
plan is different, so you will
need to find out what type
of coverage you are paying
for and if you require any
additional coverage to keep
your business safe. Even if
you have hired a third-party
company to protect your
network and sensitive data,
you could still be held liable
for any type of security
breach that occurs within
your company or with the
third-party company.
That is why it is so important for all
businesses to purchase a cyber liability
insurance plan today! This will help to
guarantee that you have the coverage
needed to take care of any risks or
threats that may be on the horizon. +
BY: KATHY HENRICH
COMMERCIAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE,
GENERAL INSURANCE SERVICES
Kathy Henrich joined General Insurance
Services in 2005 and currently has 27
years in the insurance industry. Kathy is
a lifelong La Porte County resident who
enjoys being active in her community.
She participates in The La Porte
Chamber, Lubeznik Center for the Arts,
Women in Leadership, La Porte Rotary
and St. Mary’s Church in Otis, Indiana.
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