Cyber Crime is the fastest growing crime in the world! The internet means that you and your business are at risk of becoming a victim of many types of online attacks such as Phishing Scams, identity theft, telephone hacking, website hacking and system hacking.
Your traditional business or personal insurance policies do not cover any loss of data or the recovering costs thereof if you fall victim to any of these attacks. Luckily you can now take out Cyber Insurance policies to make sure that you are covered for the costs involved if there is an attack on you!
You may think; No! It is only big companies with a lot to loose that will be targeted by these types of attacks but that is not necessarily the case.
Over a third of global targeted attacks were aimed at businesses with less than 250 employees. Often if a small company falls victim to one of these attacks, they are not financially able to recover from the loss to their data or the costs involved of recovering that data. (Never mind the liability costs arising out of lawsuits if sensitive information is released to the public).
HERE ARE THE TOP REASONS TO GET CYBER INSURANCE:
DATA:
One of the most important assets of your business is the information and data that you store, often valued at more than the physical electronic equipment that it is stored on! A cyber insurance policy will ensure cover for data restoration and rectification in the event of a loss no matter how it was caused!
Often businesses also store third party data (possibly that of suppliers or customers). If you experience a breach, you could be held liable for exposing that information and might have some nasty lawsuits on your case. Your cyber insurance policy will make sure these costs are covered.
SYSTEMS:
All businesses make use of systems (computer networks and software) to conduct day to day operations. Viruses and malicious programs could take down these systems which will result in a halt in operation of your business. A cyber insurance policy will cover the loss of profits associated with a system outage which is caused by a "non-physical" peril like a virus.
RETAILERS:
Global credit card fraud is worth over $7.5 billion and is only increasing! Compromised retailers can be held liable for forensic investigation costs, credit card reissue costs and the actual fraud conducted on stolen cards. A cyber insurance policy can help protect against all of these costs.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Social media is currently by far the biggest node of communication in the world! There is often not much control in place as to what is being said and posted on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Often people representing a company say something on social media which may leak private information, be a defamatory statement or infringe on copyrights. These can all lead to SERIOUS lawsuits! A cyber insurance policy will help cover the claims arising from these types of lawsuits.
REPUTATION:
Every business lives and dies by their reputation! When your system becomes compromised you run the risk of losing the trust of your loyal clients which can harm your business a lot more than an immediate financial loss. Cyber insurance not only helps pay for the costs of engaging a PR firm to help restore this but they cover the loss of future sales that arise as a direct result of customers switching to your competitors.
PORTABLE DEVICES:
Portable possessions such as laptops and tablets are being increasingly used to conduct business due to their ease of access anywhere in the world. This of course increases the risk to the company that these devices could get lost or land in the wrong hands. Cyber insurance can help cover the costs of a data breach should a device be lost, stolen or fall victim to a virus.
BREACH NOTIFICATION COSTS:
Breach notification laws are being introduced in many countries and require that companies that lose sensitive personal information issue written notifications to those individuals who were potentially affected. Above it being the law, customers expect openness and transparency from the business they entrusted their information with. Cyber policies will cover the costs of providing breach notices even if it is not yet legally required.
If you would like to find out more about these policies and get some quotes to make sure that you and your business are covered, we at Kern Insurance Solutions have multiple insurers that currently offer cyber insurance and can provide you with comprehensive quotations and advice.
We also offer help with your standard personal insurance policies and business insurance policies.
Contact us today for expert advice and a personal insurance broker at no extra cost.
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