If we’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s to expect the unexpected. As the entire world continues to grapple with COVID-19, we’ve faced more frequent and increasingly dangerous cyber attacks than ever before. With a huge portion of the workforce working from home, our reliance on technology—such as remote desktop protocol (RDP) and cloud computing—grew enormously overnight. This sudden strain on our IT infrastructure created prime, vulnerable targets for hackers, resulting in a storm of cyber attacks that show no signs of slowing down.
As more and more business owners come to realize that they too are a target and need protection, many are now trying to focus on what to look for in cyber insurance coverage.
Choosing the Right Cyber Insurance Policy
A Cyber insurance policy is now a critical investment for companies of all sizes, from small businesses to billion-dollar corporations. As today’s world will likely continue to increasingly rely on technology, it’s anticipated that cyber attacks and data breaches will be a significant threat for the foreseeable future.
Many business owners, especially small business owners, may be wondering: What should I look for in Cyber Security Insurance? This process can be complicated and overwhelming for many, which is why a broker’s job is more important than ever.
It’s imperative that brokers find cyber coverage for their clients that provides broad first- and third-party coverage, risk management services, and appropriate limits specific to their individual level of risk.
What are the 4 Categories of Cyber and Privacy Insurance?
A common misconception about Cyber Insurance is that it doesn’t provide much coverage, so it’s not worth the cost. Many business owners are wondering: What does a Cyber Insurance policy cover?
Understanding the types of coverage available will help brokers know what to look for in Cyber Insurance coverage.
The Cyber Insurance policies available today now provide broad, comprehensive coverage for a wide range of risks.
- First-Party coverages
- IT forensic costs
- Notification costs
- Credit protection costs
- Crisis management costs
- Crime and social engineering
- Cyber extortion
- Cyber business interruption
- Hacker damage or digital asset damage
- Third-Party coverages
Third-party claims related to:
- Breach of contract
- Negligent protection of data
- Network security breaches
- Transmission of software viruses
- Denial of service attacks
- Defense of regulatory actions
- PCI Fines and penalties
Data protection laws & regulations
- Including the GDPR, CCPA, VCDPA
- Investigation of a regulation complaint
- Fines or penalties related to a regulatory action for a cyber event or use of consumer data
- Additional coverages
Multimedia coverage
- Online advertising
- Intellectual property
- Copyright and trademark infringement
- Libel or defamation claims
- Risk management services
- Breach coach to help walk business owners through the recovery period following a cyber attack
- Continuing education for employees so they’re aware of the latest threats and know how to identify them (human error continues to be a significant vulnerability to cyber attacks)
- Managed detection and response services and 24/7 real-time cyber incident response throughout the policy period
In addition to providing coverage in the event of a cyber attack, many Cyber Insurance policies offer risk management and loss prevention services to help avoid a breach altogether.
The right Cyber Insurance policy should also provide a breach coach. This individual is waiting and ready to respond as soon as a cyber attack occurs. They’re available to walk business owners through every step of the recovery process and provide access to the best vendors in the space (often at pre-negotiated rates) to respond to the breach, such as PR teams and IT forensic specialists.
What is Not Covered by Cyber Insurance?
While the Cyber Insurance policies that are available today are much more comprehensive than their predecessors, it’s important to be aware of additional risks businesses can face that are not covered by Cyber Insurance and what additional policies are available to create a well-rounded risk management portfolio.
This insurance product provides coverage for any errors or mistakes that a business makes in the professional services they provide. Even the most experienced professionals and the most sound technology will make mistakes or run into errors at a certain point.
While E&O insurance provides coverage for a business when it’s faced with a lawsuit for a mistake made, what happens when an individual director or officer of the company is personally sued? This is where D&O Insurance steps in. These claims can range from the financial management of the organization to the make up of the board of directors.
Find Your Clients the Right Policy With ProWriters
At ProWriters, we understand that cyber can be complicated for both clients and brokers as they may not know what to look for in Cyber Insurance coverage. In addition, the traditional route of manually quoting individual policies one by one is cumbersome and time-consuming.
We strive to make brokers’ jobs easier than ever so they can quickly find the Cyber Insurance their clients need.
With our Cyber IQ Platform, brokers can quote and compare multiple policies from multiple carriers in just minutes. With an automatic comparison sheet, brokers can quickly review policy options side by side to determine which policy will best suit their individual clients.
Register today to get started or contact a ProWriters expert with any questions.
