Small Business Cyber Liability Insurance
Cyber Insurance is only one of the newest types of insurance on the market but it’s also one of the most important in protecting your business against a new class of savvy and sometime anonymous thieves and vandals.
What is Cyber Insurance?
If you think this type of insurance is just for the big firms, it’s not so. As a small or medium business, you too are left open to an attack. So what exactly do we mean when we say cyber attack? Quite simply, a cyber attack is when hackers attempt to damage or destroy your computer network or system. An attack could paralyze your internal computer, crippling your entire organization in a matter of seconds. Cyber insurance, unheard of just a decade ago, is relatively new — and more affordable than you think. Premiums can be as low as $2,000 per year, but you can add on the coverage you need for the size and nature of your business, easily getting into the tens of millions of dollars a year for coverage, with deductibles as low as just $10,000, says Inc.com. There’s generally a lot of room for negotiation since this policy type is so new.
Be Prepared
In this day and age, many businesses accept credit cards for payments. It’s absolutely necessary if you have a service or product that customers need. Accessibility to your product means a complete e-commerce package offered on your site. This leaves you vulnerable to threats. Closing that gap with cyber liability insurance is key. If you assume you’re covered under your standard business liability insurance policy, you are wrong. Generally, the loss of customer or employee information is not covered under most corporate insurance policies, says Forbes.com. Some general liability policies and directors and officers liability policies may provide a small amount of coverage under only those areas, but once you discover what’s covered and what’s not, this is usually after an attack has occurred. By then, it’s far too late. You don’t want to wait that long to learn that your company is sorely lacking in protection against cyber attacks.
Don’t Fall into the Trap
Despite the fact that 65 percent of public companies knowingly decide against taking out cyber insurance, they repeatedly list cyber risk as a top concern, with many expecting a cyber breach this year, continues Forbes. Amazingly, only a bit over 70 percent have instituted cyber breach response plans. Don’t think you’re immune to the threat just because you’re not a huge corporation. More than 72 percent of data breaches happened within small- and medium-sized businesses, with the average cost totaling five million dollars. If you don’t want to be another statistic, look into cyber liability insurance today to be proactive in your business protection.
In today’s online world, you can’t afford not to protect yourself in the event of cyber fraud. As a small- or medium-sized business, it’s in your best interest to purchase cyber liability insurance. If not, you leave yourself vulnerable to the devastating effects of not having coverage in the event of ID theft or security breach. Take a moment to think about the dire consequences and corresponding fallout that would have on your business. Don’t leave yourself open to cyber fraud. Instead, be smart and get the necessary insurance to protect yourself, your business, your family. Call Chris Kline at Gallen Insurance for more information on protecting your business.
Christopher D. Kline
Commercial & Personal Insurance
PO Box 100
Shillington, PA 19607
P: 610-898-6512
F: 610-777-9957
C: 484-797-0865