Professional Risk Insurance

Cyber Insurance

The use of IT technology and the reliance on electronic data within the business environment has expanded exponentially in recent years. Cyber liabilities describe the risk exposures to a business which arise from the use of their computer network, the internet, data storage and any electronic data exchange (e.g. email).

Cyber insurance is designed to help an organisation manage and control the impact of a cyber attack, or from a data breach, and is designed to get it back to business as quickly as possible.

It will cover the company’s own IT systems if they are attacked or damaged (for example, by a virus, malware or ransomware) including forensic and data restoration costs and can also extend to include any resultant loss of income.

GDPR regulations are well-published and a cyber insurance policy can also cover losses arising from a data breach – both own expenses (e.g. notification and/or forensic costs) and any third party costs incurred from a privacy of security liability, as well as fines that may arise from this.

5 reasons why you should consider cyber insurance
for your business

Cybercrime is on the increase
Our increasing reliance on technology and the internet is exposing any business that uses a computer to a world of cybercriminals. Cybercriminals are not 9 – 5 they work around the clock to identify vulnerabilities and launch attacks. You’ve likely heard of ransomware, but social engineering scams are also on the rise, leading to significant losses for companies of all types.

At the forefront of protecting against this new wave of crime, a cyber insurance policy can provide invaluable cover for a wide range of electronic perils, from wire transfer fraud to ransomware.
System downtime is missed by standard business interruption insurance
When computer systems are brought down, a traditional business interruption policy is unlikely to respond, as this type of event would be outside the parameters of a ‘standard’ business interruption policy. Considering how almost all businesses rely on technology to some extent, this can result in significant financial loss the business has to swallow.

Cyber insurance can provide cover for loss of income and extra expenses associated with a cyber event, including legal fees, the cost of remediating the incident, the hiring of expert teams, reputational harm and so on.
Your data is not covered
Data is one of today’s most important business assets, often worth many times more than the equipment it’s stored upon. Yet business owners are often unaware that a standard property policy would not respond if data is damaged, lost or destroyed.
Taking out a cyber policy is a great way to get comprehensive cover for data restoration and even re-creation in the event of a loss.
Complying with breach notification laws cost time and money
Breach notification laws are now commonplace across many territories and require businesses that fail to protect personal data to notify affected individuals or risk hefty fines and penalties. Australia’s Notifiable Data Breaches Act, Canada’s Digital Privacy Act, Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, and numerous US state laws make it a legal obligation to notify, and there is also a growing trend towards voluntary notification in order to protect your brand and reputation.

Cyber policies can provide cover for the costs associated with providing a breach notice even if it’s not legally required and can also cover associated regulatory fines and penalties.
Cyber security and incident response services included
Cyber insurance doesn’t just cover financial loss when an incident occurs. A good policy offers proactive protection to stop attacks from happening in the first place, and reactive support to respond efficiently and effectively when they do occur.

Depending on the policy and the insurer, from the moment a cyber policy is bound, their global team of cyber experts work around the clock to detect and alert their clients to cyber threats targeting their business. Again, depending on the policy, if they discover a cyber security issue, their team will notify the impacted business through their app, and takes steps to remediate the threat before it escalates.

An important additional benefit of a cyber insurance policy is an emergency response hotline providing immediate access to specialist IT consultants and advisors in an emergency, as well as paying for forensic costs, public relations costs, and any regulatory defence and penalty costs as a result of a cyber extortion or data breach.

If you have any concerns about your possible vulnerability to a cyber attack, please contact us to discuss how cyber insurance can offer peace of mind and support.

Cox Mahon – specialist cyber insurance brokers