If your computers are stolen during a burglary or destroyed due to a flood or fire, your standard property and casualty policies will cover the loss. What happens, however, if your data is lost due to a website shut down, or worse, stolen by hackers? Would your business survive the loss of income if you cannot take orders while your website is disabled? There is also a good likelihood that you may lose clients if their personal data such as social security numbers and credit card info is taken due to a breach of your website.
As a small business owner, you may think that Cyber Insurance Coverage is only necessary for large corporations. While you may remember the high profile data breaches at Sony and Epsilon, be aware that no one specific industry is safe from hackers as they are continually evolving their strategies. It is important to realize that a small company can be more at risk due to a cyber incident than a larger more diversified company that has many different departments and would be more likely to survive the loss and the costs involved.
Security breaches can be the result of a cyber attack, a third party data center error or an employee leaving a laptop with sensitive information on the train. While firewalls and other technologies are in place to protect against malicious trojans, viruses and worms, a single security breach, be it a willful attack or an accident, can wreak havoc on your business’ bottom line, reputation and in severe cases, its existence.
Every small business is different and has different needs. A doctor’s office that stores sensitive medical information may not need the same type of cyber coverage as an online retailer that stores credit card info or a financial planner that stores tax information. These are only a few examples of businesses that would be at risk due to a data breach or website failure. Your business will be stalled until the problems are corrected and this could take hours or days or weeks. You may also have to deal with customers who experience financial distress due to the breach and may seek damages against you.
Just as the internet and cyber world are continually expanding and changing, so is the need for cyber insurance. The typical general liability policy does not cover losses incurred because of the Internet. The best way to determine what coverage your business needs, is to contact Berkely Brokerage Corp. We will work with you to put the proper insurance in place to protect the business you have worked so hard to grow.
The bottom line is that if your business depends on the internet to run and/or you store sensitive customer data, you need to talk to us about Cyber Insurance Coverage.
