So why does it seem so complicated to get a cyber liability policy? Well, one of the things that a lot of people don’t realize is up until recently, cyber liability insurance as a line of coverage did not exist. There was no standard cyber insurance policy and there still isn’t. Each carrier covers different types of costs and different incidents. They have different terms and conditions on their policy and different exclusions that make it hard for you as a customer and even for a broker to really understand what’s covered in a contract without really reading it and having it match what the client wants. It’s not like you buy car insurance and they’re all standard, it’s not like a commodity. The biggest problem was a lack of education and understanding when it comes to the risks. You need to know what the risks are in your company that you have and what’s going to be covered or what you want to have covered. You may not be able to cover everything, but you want to cover the ones that are important to you. In many cases, it’s because there’s a false sense of security where companies don’t realize what their risks are. A lot of companies think I’m not going to be a target for hackers, nobody wants to hack me I’m just a small mom-and-pop company or a midsize manufacturer, why would they want to target me? And a lot of times companies don’t have the time to study what the threats are and realize how big they are. Hackers play a numbers game. They don’t just say we’re going after the biggest companies, because sometimes the biggest companies are the worst ones to try to hack because they have a lot of budget going into prevention. A lot of times the better bang for the buck is to try to target mid or small-size companies, 1 million to 5 million in revenue because they may not have a big budget for cyber protection. And they might be really quick to write a check for 30-40 grand just to get the hackers out of your hair. Companies nowadays are all tech companies, a lot of manufacturing firms or construction companies think look I’m not a tech company, why do I need cyber insurance? Well, you have a computer, don’t you? You have a website. You have a management system online, you maybe you have accounts receivable, or accounts payable, or maybe use QuickBooks. All those are technical platforms and a cyber attacker, infiltrating those platforms can do a lot of damage. They can hold you hostage, they can get your customer data. In addition to the losses you would incur from the damage, many times you have to pay penalties and fines because your customer’s data was breached. So make sure that you understand what your risk might be for cyber insurance whether you buy a policy or not make sure that you put some protection against the loss in the first place, even if you have insurance you’re going to have to put protections in place. Otherwise, your insurer probably wouldn’t even pick up your policy.

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A cyber liability policy can help cover your business and keep you updated with industry tips like this one. Get in touch with us today to learn more about cyber liability insurance coverage, or set up a no-obligation consultation with a commercial lines expert through TelaClient.com.