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Cyber liability insurance: 5 fast facts

June 14, 2011 by ofonseca

In this daunting time of high-wire cyber attacks, when even the most trusted brands are falling prey to tireless hackers, there’s no such thing as being too prepared.  Enter cyber liability insurance, a relatively new area of the insurance industry that provides coverage where general commercial liability (CGL) insurance typically does not.  Unless a cyber insurance endorsement is a part of your CGL insurance, don’t count on your policy to cover the wide-ranging costs associated with a breach – attorney fees, forensic expenses, mailings, call center, credit monitoring, secondary liability expenses, cleanup costs, and so on.  While major companies that service large organizations have been in the game for awhile, more companies are now tailoring coverage for small and medium-sized businesses, which incidentally have become the prime targets for hackers.

Here’s the 411 on insurance that can serve as your company’s 911 for cyber costs and liability:

1.            Breach Costs.  Cyber liability insurance can cover direct and indirect costs associated with a breach, ranging from breach notice costs (including costs associated with providing free credit monitoring to individuals) to damages and defense costs (prompted from lawsuits or regulatory investigations or actions).

2.            Service Provider Breach.  If the breach happens not to your company but to a service provider that handles your company’s data, cyber liability insurance can cover all associated expenses except for internal man-hours squandered on addressing the breach.

3.            Social Media.  If your CGL insurance doesn’t cover social media activities, make sure you obtain cyber liability insurance that does.  With social media becoming an increasing part of any company’s online footprint, it’s critical that your business is covered in this area.  Start by making sure your company has a social media policy in place.

4.            Crisis Management, Business Interruption and Data Restoration.  Cyber liability insurance can help get your systems back up and running and assist with the PR costs needed to get your company’s reputation restored as well.

5.            Denial of Service Attack.  What happens when your company or service provider is shut down by an attack and your company is thus shut down for business?  Cyber liability insurance can cover lost income and repair costs.

Data is a prized asset that warrants its own specific protections.  Make sure ahead of time that your data is properly insured so that when a breach strikes your company isn’t burdened with exorbitant costs along with inconvenience.

[dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”600px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]White Paper Download: Cyber Insurance and Your Data Breach Response Plan[/dropshadowbox]