Helping Your Clients Protect Their Businesses From New Threats

By Allison McGreal, Assistant Vice President

Over the years, as more industries have gone paperless and started to collect, store, and send data electronically, the opportunity for cyber mayhem has increased. Even large multi-million and multi-national corporations have been hacked, leading to sensitive personal and financial information being collected by nefarious sources. Many corporations took steps to try to prevent a similar situation with their own businesses, installing encryption software and other firewalls. People began to realize that if these large corporations with all their security were vulnerable, similar cyber attacks could affect their small businesses as well.

Every business that uses computers, laptops, tablets, etc. has a cyber exposure. In response to the pandemic, many businesses have temporarily closed their offices, allowing employees to work remotely from their homes. What started out as a short-term solution to keeping companies running has grown into a longer-term situation and in some cases, a permanent shift away from communal office space. Some businesses were prepared for a mass work from home movement but others were caught off guard. People began to work from personal laptops or home computers, dealing with sensitive corporate data on potentially unsecure systems.

When marketing calls and other office visits ceased, the use of Zoom calls, Teams, group chats between branch offices or clients, and other methods of online communication skyrocketed. This shift left businesses with potential cyber exposures not previously planned for or perhaps not on such a large scale. Businesses may install encryption software, set up VPNs, send email attachments that require passwords for the receiver to ensure only the correct person has the access to sensitive data, and a myriad of other options to try to protect themselves and their business from a cyber breach. Many organizations have incorporated internal training for their employees so they better understand how these breaches might occur. Cyber criminals are trying new ways to access computer data with click bate, trying to trick employees into thinking they need to update a program (one that is not authorized by their company), email addresses that look familiar but are slightly askew,  and other means to trick employees into opening the “door” to access their computer system. But it seems like every time security systems improve, another malware is created to thwart those efforts.

It’s imperative in this era of home computer usage and equally large computer vulnerabilities, to have Cyber Liability coverage in place as another tool to protect from these exposures.

What does Cyber Liability insurance cover?

• Security Breach:  Unauthorized acquisition and/or dissemination of data held within a computer system.
• Extortion Threats:  Threat of the release of your personal data, or that of your clients, or corruption of your data unless a demand is met (example: ransomware).
• Electronic Data Replacement or Repair:  Costs associated with recreating lost or damaged data.
• Public Relations: Costs to restore your company reputation from negative publicity.
• Defense Costs: Reasonable and necessary attorney fees, expert witnesses, and other costs in connection with the investigation and settlement of a claim.

PartnerOne Environmental offers Cyber Liability coverage with limits starting as low as $10,000/$25,000 up to $500,000/$1,000,000. Cyber Liability addresses a myriad of issues including security breaches, forensic analysis, costs to investigate the cause, scope and extent of a breach, and determining next steps to mitigate. It may also address extortion threats, replacement or restoration of electronic data, assist in restoring your corporate reputation, ransomware, and other cyber incidents and viruses.

For more information about these exposures and how Cyber Liability can address these concerns, contact us.

Coverage information was referenced from:
Cyber Liability endorsement
ECP 1098 11 18 P1 endorsement