Author, Sam Clayton, Vice President, Construction Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Target, Capital One, and Equifax are all Fortune 500 Companies and household names we recognize. All have experienced a cyber liability breach in the last decade. When we hear of a data breach, we typically think of large corporations or more recently municipalities that collect customers’ personal identification information or are using technology to manage physical locations (i.e. buildings), transit systems, and people. However, just about any large, medium or small organization that uses technology to operate their business faces a cyber-exposure. And, as technology becomes more complex and sophisticated, so do the threats we face, which is why every business and organization needs to be prepared with both cyber liability insurance and an effective cyber security plan to manage and mitigate cyber risk. Below are two different cyber threats your company faces on a daily basis.

Ransomware is a type of malware that prevents users from accessing their system or personal files and demands a ransom payment, typically in the form of Bitcoin, in order to unlock and regain access to your data.

Social Engineering is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity via e-mail. This is typically accomplished by directing users to enter personal information at a fake website which matches the look and feel of the legitimate website.

A Cyber Liability Policy can help protect against data breaches and other evolving cyber exposures that are not covered by a standard property and general liability policy. These policies can respond in multiple ways such as credit card data remediation and notifications expense, network and information security liability, regulatory defense expense, crisis management expenses and computer program and electronic data restoration expenses.

In addition to the coverages above, many cyber insurers offer policyholders pre-breach services, employee training and IT forensics specialists. Some also provide data breach “coaches” who specialize in the unique legal and regulatory issues surrounding breaches, and will assist businesses with navigating the response process and ensure compliance with state and federal privacy laws.

Please contact Rancho Mesa to learn more about implementing a strong Cyber Prevention Plan.