Cyber Crime & Information Risks

It is increasingly likely that your business will face a Cyber Crime crisis.  Think of how much information you store electronically.  This sensitive information can include the billing and personally identifiable information of your current (and past!) vendors, customers, and employees.  Your website and computers can also be held for ransom.  How long would your website have to be down before you started losing money?  What if your web traffic were redirected to material that would jeopardize your reputation such as pornography?  How much revenue would you lose if you suddenly had all of your computers lock up and you lost access to your files?

Cyber Crime is continually evolving and the growing statistics show that these threats and many more may soon be knocking at your own door.  Even six years ago in 2012 then FBI director Robert Mueller said: “There are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked and those that will be. Even that is merging into one category: those that have been hacked and will be again.”

Keeping Up

The days of simply needing to have a strong password and a good antivirus software are long gone. In the face of mounting Cyber Crime, Insurance companies are continually rolling out new coverage features to broaden the protection available.  The best policies can be customized.  Consider adding protection for losses such as hacking, malware, ransomware, viruses, data breaches and more to your policy.  Should you need to file a claim your policy may provide benefits such as legal defense, repairing and restoring computer programs and data, hiring a public relations firm, providing notification and credit monitoring to affected parties, and restoration of lost money and revenues.

Things are changing quickly!  It is important to thoroughly evaluate your risks, and have an independent agent review the protections available for purchase in the insurance market at least once a year.