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Business Insurance

Is your business too small for a cyber attack? Guess again.

By November 28, 2017February 7th, 2022No Comments

You can’t get through the news lately without a discussion about a cyber-attack. Target, JPMorgan, Equifax – big names we have all heard of, and obvious targets for a cyber-attack. But so is your business. Whether you own a small dry cleaner, donut shop or local restaurant your business is a perfect target for cyber criminals.

A bigger corporation has far more data that is ripe for the picking, but to a cybercriminal your guard is down. Most of our small businesses don’t have IT departments and if you are a startup you are probably just happy that your wi-fi is working. Now some of you are thinking “it could never happen to me” but it does. Approximately 71 percent1 of cyberattacks are aimed at small business. And if you store any customer credit card data your are an ideal target.

A National Small Business Association survey noted that half of all the small and medium sized businesses they survey reported being targets of a cyberattack. And the cost from such attacks rose from $8,699 in 2013 to $20,752 in 20142.

By now I hope I have your attention and maybe you are a little freaked out, but what can you do about this constant effort? There is always the route of prevention, but I am an insurance agent and not an IT professional. There are a variety of measures that can be taken with fire-walls, VPNs and mobile security so on that you should discuss this with an IT professional.

A cyber liability policy will cover your liability for a data breach when your customers’ personal information. Social Security or credit card numbers are the most common, so the policy will cover notification costs, credit monitoring and even cyber extortion. You can purchase a stand-alone policy but with the proliferation of attacks many insurance companies offer an endorsement to their existing commercial product offerings. Make certain that you are carrying a limit that is appropriate for you size of business.

In addition, cyber insurance can go beyond breaches. Ransomware demands in the past were relatively small but with some hackers asking for $20,000 or more, you can’t afford to dismiss this coverage.

If you need to learn more about cyber liability coverage, please contact our office at 513-444-2100 or email us at cberry@berry-agency.com.

  1. 2017 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, http://www.verizonenterprise.com/verizon-insights-lab/dbir/
  2. National Small Business Association, 2014 Year-End Economic Report, 16 (2015), available at http://www.nsba.biz/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Year-End-Economic-Report-2014.pdf
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