Risk & Business Magazine Hardenbergh Insurance Group Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 8

PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS BY: ANDREW BONIFANTE, HARDENBERGH INSURANCE W Protect Your Business Before It’s Too Late hen it comes to cyber insurance, I have found there are a lot of misconceptions out there. Having worked to provide this type of coverage to so many small- and medium-sized businesses, I would like to correct some of these misconceptions to help you realize how serious a problem a cyber- attack can be. Please take a look at the list below and feel free to get in touch with me at [email protected] if I can help answer any questions: 1) I AM TOO SMALL TO BE HACKED. The idea that hackers are more interested in the Targets and Home Depots of the world than they are in you is flat out wrong. Last year, 70 percent of hacks were targeted toward small- and mid-sized businesses with fewer than one thousand employees. Smaller businesses are generally less informed about hacking and are less likely to have safeguards and controls in place to protect themselves. 2) THE CLOUD IS MY SAFETY NET. Believe it or not, the Cloud is no safe 8 haven. The Cloud is a network just like the hardwired network in your office and is just as vulnerable to cyber-attack. In fact, in 2016, over eighty-five million records stored on the Cloud were hacked in the United States. 3) MY CREDIT VENDOR HAS CYBER INSURANCE, SO I DON’T NEED IT. This may be true, but there’s a big “but.” It’s great if your third-party credit vendor has the insurance to cover you, but this type of payout takes time—and you will not have that luxury. You will need funds immediately to defend your case and make remunerations. And if the vendor truly is at fault, there is no guarantee that the limits of the vendor’s policy will be sufficient to compensate for your entire loss. 4) I CAN HANDLE IT ON MY OWN. As an entrepreneur, you are accustomed to handling everything that comes your way. But a cyber-attack is different because it has legal ramifications, which can vary by state. For example, you only have a certain time frame within which you must notify clients of the cyber- attack and offer mitigation. A cyber-attack approach that has gained popularity recently is “ransomware.” This is when hackers hijack your software and you essentially become locked out of your own network. To regain control and keep your business on track, you must pay a ransom to the hackers. Over 90 percent of businesses, desperate to keep their doors open, end up paying whatever’s demanded of them. All told, the cost to remedy a hack generally amounts to about $225 per record. Of course, most companies have many hundreds or thousands of records, so the costs can add up pretty quickly. Some businesses, such as a medical office housing confidential patient health information, require heightened coverage to adequately protect themselves. A retail store, on the other hand, which only keeps credit card information on file for perhaps one day, may be alright with a more standardized policy. Check with your insurance agent to design the right type of coverage for your business. +