Respect the Internet: Cyber Liability

Love it or Hate it, the Internet is here to stay.  And with each moment it seems the Internet is further ingrained in both our personal and business life.  The Internet has at the same time made our lives easier and opened us up to new dangers.

Respect The Internet

Twenty-first Century Businesses are under constant threat of Cyber Attack.  Though all business industries are susceptible to a Cyber loss for the purposes of this article we will focus on the risk concerns for Professional trades such as Lawyers, Accountants, Real Estate Agents, Dentists, Doctors, etc.

The professional trades listed above, (not an inclusive list, there are many others), are extremely vulnerable to a data security or privacy lawsuit because of the confidential and personal information stored in their computer databases.

Today’s Cyber Liability policy (there have been many iterations over the 10 year life of Cyber Liability), includes Network Liability as well as the following first party coverages, Privacy Liability, Regulatory Liability, and various expenses surrounding a security breach event.

This Insurance Journal article on Cyber Liability outlines further where exposures come from: including outsourced service providers for web hosting, credit card processing, call centers, document storage, and data warehousing.

Covered Events Include:

• Unauthorized access or use of a computer system,
• Theft or destruction of data,
• Hacker attacks against third parties,
• Denial of service attacks,
• Malicious code
• Privacy liability arising from a network security breach,
• Security breaches of personal information in any format, including non-electronic,
• Violations of state and federal privacy regulations (HIPAA)
• Security breach notification laws

Talk with your insurance professional in depth to make sure you understand what you are purchasing.  This is NOT a homeowners policy, this is an Advanced Business Policy that demands discussion.

Disclaimer:

This article is for informational purposely only. There is no legal advice being suggested or proffered and the author assumes no responsibility or liability for the actions take or not taken by the readers based upon such information.

Thank you,

Ryan H.

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