As virtual interactions surge in 2020, from business meetings to doctor appointments and even wishing your mother a happy birthday, the opportunities for cyber hackers are now monumental. From cloud vulnerabilities to malware, ransomware, and the always lucrative social engineering attempts, hackers will stop at nothing to put organizations and businesses in a compromising position. As the dark web seems to expand daily, business owners need to take precautionary steps now to find a cyber insurance policy that protects their business. However, cyber can be complex and confusing, even for agents and brokers. How can you find the best cyber insurance policy for your individual clients?

Helping your clients purchase a cyber policy is one of the best ways you can help them protect their financial security going into the future. Even companies that strongly focus on cyber security within their culture and take all the precautionary measures are still at risk. However, many business owners are still failing to make this crucial investment, with nearly 60% still going uninsured. Why are business owners willing to take this risk when it’s estimated that a cyber attack occurs every 39 seconds?

There are a number of reasons:

• They don’t think they’re at risk. Many small business owners don’t feel they’re big targets, so they don’t believe they’re at risk of a cyberattack. While we regularly hear about cyberattacks against multi-million dollar corporations on the news, these attacks are complicated and difficult to execute. Attacks against small businesses are often easier and less of a hassle for hackers, making them an enticing target.

• They don’t understand the potential cost of a cyberattack. The financial damages of a cyberattack are often enough to force a small-to-midsize business to close. With many business owners unfamiliar with the cyber claim process, they often don’t understand the full extent of the possible first and third-party damages they may face.

• They don’t think the insurance premium is worth it. When surveyed, 41% of middle market companies reported that the cost of cyber insurance was too high. In reality, it’s a small investment to make in comparison to the damages of a cyber event.

• They already have coverage for cyber risks under another policy. A whopping 43% of business owners reported this. In reality, other types of liability insurance, such as a commercial general liability (CGL) policy, do not include cyber coverages and will usually not cover those exposures. In reality, a specialty insurer is often needed to provide a policy that specifically insures cyber.

What to Look for in a Cyber Insurance Carrier

Not all cyber insurance providers are made equally, and the complexity of cyber coverage (plus the volatile market) can make selecting coverage confusing and complicated. Any organization who offers cyber insurance should be closely vetted. As new technology is developed every day, new threats emerge in an attempt to compromise that technology. In addition, the laws, regulations, and policies that govern cybersecurity and insurance also rapidly change, making it difficult to keep up.

Selecting the most comprehensive policy from an experienced and competent insurance carrier is imperative.

Here’s what to look for:

1. Experience

There’s no easy way around it: Cyber is complex and experience in the industry matters. The right insurance provider should offer true expertise in their field in order to make sure your clients are offered the right policy for their individual level of risk. In addition, the right carrier should provide your client access to all of the best possible vendors available should they fall victim to a data breach, including:

• Data Breach Coach
  This party will walk your client through the entire breach response process from beginning to end to make sure they begin mitigating any and all damages immediately.

• Legal Team
  A legal team will help your client make sure they’re complying with all rules and regulations when responding to the breach, as well as defend them from potential third-party claims related to the breach of Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

• IT Forensics Team
  One of the first few steps after a breach occurs is locating the source of the breach, repairing any potential system damages, and re-securing the network. Next comes identifying what data or information was compromised and how to begin the data recovery process. This is complicated and expensive, and cannot be handled by the average IT team.

• Public Relations Firm
  Following a breach, a company will often face serious damages to its public reputation. Responding quickly and transparently with immediate breach notifications is often the best way to help protect the company’s public perception. A public relations firm is often a necessary and important expense in helping the company protect its image.

2. Service
The hours and days following a data breach or cyberattack can be a scary and very stressful time for a business owner. A cyber insurance carrier should provide you with the best possible service to help you get back on your feet as quickly as possible. Data breaches cause chaos on their own and your clients’ experience with their insurance provider should never add fuel to the fire.

3. Processes

When a cyberattack occurs, time is of the essence. A fast response to a breach is crucial in mitigating the damages, so your clients’ insurance provider should have efficient and streamlined processes in place. The quicker the breach is located, the less information that may become compromised. The faster your client notifies the public, the better chances of your client’s reputation being saved.

While cyber insurance can be complex, finding the best cyber insurance policy for your clients doesn’t have to be.

With ProWriters, we strive to make your job as a broker even easier with our Cyber IQ Comparative Rate Platform. We’ve streamlined the process of quoting different policies. With our platform, you can quote and compare multiple policies from multiple carriers in just minutes to find a policy that best fits your clients’ needs.

With our Cyber IQ Comparative Rate Platform, you can quote policies from the best cyber insurers available, including:

• At-Bay
• Axis
• CFC
• CHUBB
• Tokio Marine HCC
• Corvus
• Coalition

Quickly quote and compare policies from these outstanding cyber insurance carriers to find coverage that will give your clients the peace of mind needed in today’s volatile cyber climate.

ProWriters: We’re Here to Help

As a broker, your job is to protect your clients with the best cyber insurance coverage possible. At ProWriters, our job is to make your job even easier.

In addition to our Cyber IQ Comparative Rate Platform, we offer a number of FREE resources for brokers to make selling cyber even easier, including:

• Marketing & Educational Materials: Our downloadable materials will help you and your clients understand the complexities of the cyber market and cyber insurance.
• Risk Management Resources: From cyber basics to guides on creating a comprehensive risk management plan, these resources can help your client work to avoid a breach altogether.
• Video Resources: To help you understand more about our company, products, and today’s current cyber threats, these videos cover a range of topics from insurance distribution to ransomware.
• Webinars: The latest addition to our broker resources, our webinars are available to help you become the cyber expert your clients are looking for.

In addition, check out our latest eBook, How to Sell Cyber: Big Claims in Ransomware & Social Engineering to learn more about:

• How social engineering threats are affecting your clients’ cyber exposure
• What kinds of costs your clients could be facing in the event of a data breach without proper coverage
• What data regulations apply to your clients and what non-compliance actually costs
• How to present and explain packaged and stand-alone cyber policies to your clients

Interested in getting started? Don’t wait! Get your clients the protection they deserve. Contact us or speak with a ProWriters expert at 484-321-2335 today.