Cyberliability Insurance
Never heard of Cyberliability Insurance? No Surprise. Until recently, neither had we. No one had. There wasn't much need for it.
Now we do.
If your business stores or handles customer information on your computers, you're at risk. It's not just the big companies that make the news... small companies are easy prey for data thieves. And the cost can bankrupt a company as surely as an uninsured fire.
A drug store chain had a data breach that exposed customer credit card info. They spent over $400,000 to fire a firm to conduct forensics; determine who was detected, and r-secure their network; plus another $75,000 to a public relations firm to restore their reputation.
An appliance sales business stored client names, addresses, phone numbers, and sales in an unsecured computer, which was then hacked. They paid $10,000 to defend themselves and $30,000 in fines levied by the state.
A real estate agency's computers were affected by a virus that participated in an internet attack against another business. They wound up paying over $50,000 in defense costs and another $30,000 in a settlement.
A small family restaurant had a data breach of their credit card system. Then payment card processor withdrew $10,000 from their bank account and sued them for another $80,000.
You can protect yourself with the best in security - in computer antivirus and firewalls, in encryption; in procedures and training of your staff, in vetting the vendors you work with - but if you store customer information, you're always at risk. And the cost, indirect damages, fires, computer restoration, and reputation, can be crippling.
It's the sort of thing insurance agents worry about and that we, at Carolina Insurance Group, worry about for our customers.
Fortunately, you can now buy Cyberliability Insurance and protect your business against these threats. Just as you protect it against fires, vehicle crashes, and lawsuits. Want to know more? Just ask as. That's what we're here for.
