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Considering cybersecurity insurance? Here’s everything you need to know about whether this type of insurance could be good for your business or organization.
If you have questions about cyber insurance, you’re not alone.
As a relatively new form of insurance, cyber insurance can be especially confusing because of the ever-changing world of cybercrime. No one argues that an increasing number of businesses are being targeted by data breaches and other forms of criminal cyber activity. It’s dangerous, immediately threatening, and damaging to a frightening extent.
But the question remains: Is there really any way to completely protect your business from a cyber attack?
Austin IT services professional, Jason Simons talks about the importance of cyber insurance for large and growing organizations.
The answer, unfortunately, is no. If you want to avoid a hurricane leveling your business, you can move it away from a hurricane-prone area. If you want to prevent a physical robbery of your brick and mortar business, there are many things you can do (invest in an alarm system, install cameras, hire security guards, etc.) that will effectively deter thieves.
But cybersecurity attacks aren’t like hurricanes, and they aren’t even like physical robberies. They are elusive, pervasive, and always changing. Most of all, they can be crippling to any business they touch.
You can certainly invest in anti-virus software, firewalls, and other measures to prevent a data breach (and you should!), but these measures are far from full-proof.
In this way, cybersecurity insurance is your best bet at not losing your entire business after a serious cyber attack.
What Is Cyber Insurance?
Cyber insurance is a type of insurance that covers losses associated with a cybercrime or data breach. Although the insurance itself cannot prevent an attack, it can help make your business whole again if you do suffer the consequences of an attack. Most cyber insurance particularly covers breaches that end in the loss of sensitive information from customers or clients.
What Does Cyber Insurance Cover?
This will inevitably depend upon the insurance plan and policy you choose. However, there are some general coverages that most cyber insurance plans will include:
- Legal expenses associated with the breach
- Expenses related to recovering the lost data
- Expenses related to the restoration of affected customers’ lost information
- Expenses related to fixing computer systems
- Expenses related to letting customers and clients know about the breach
What Is Log Management?
After a breach, in order to get your deserved payout from the insurance company, you must have adequate data to back up the fact that you were indeed targeted in an attack. The best way to do this is with a software called log management. This software will show exactly the steps that led to the breach and all actions that took place during and after the breach as well.
Work With Your MSP to Decide on a Cyber Insurance Plan
A key component to your campaign against cyber attacks is your managed service provider (MSP). Your MSP’s job is to head up the security for your company. This means helping you create a detailed and highly comprehensive cybersecurity plan, but it always means helping you figure out cyber insurance.
Most MSPs won’t require that their clients have cybersecurity insurance, but they will certainly recommend it. This isn’t to cover themselves in the event of a data breach, but rather to cover you. Although quality MSPs will be highly adept at preventing cybersecurity attacks, it’s still worth noting that, again, cybercrime isn’t like other crime. It’s unpredictable, and unfortunately, increasingly prevalent.
Keep in mind that most of the companies, organizations, and municipalities who have been targeted by cybercrime did have cybersecurity measures in place. In fact, many of them had fairly robust security measures set up. Unfortunately, hackers are clever, and new techniques for infiltrating your networks and data are continually being discovered.
Do you think cyber insurance may be something that could benefit your business? It’s certainly worth looking into. Speak with your managed service provider today to learn about your options and come up with a plan.