Cyber liability insurance

Cyber liability insurance for technology companies provides coverage for legal costs when a client sues for failure to prevent a data breach or cyberattack at their business.

For example, if an IT consultant leaves data for a small healthcare company unsecured on Amazon Web Services, and a cyberattack exposes hundreds of Social Security numbers and email addresses belonging to the company's customers, the healthcare company could blame the consultant and file a lawsuit.

The consultant's cyber liability policy helps pay for legal defense costs and the eventual settlement.

Cyber liability insurance for retail businesses helps provide coverage to recover after a cyberattack exposed your customers' personal data. It's recommended for any shop that handles credit card numbers or other sensitive information.

For example, an employee at your retail store accidentally opens an email containing a malicious computer virus. The virus encrypts data crucial to your business’s operations and demands a ransom for its retrieval.

Your cyber security insurance reimburses you for the ransom and for the cost of hiring someone to look into the source of the attack.

Cyber liability insurance for healthcare organizations can help cover legal costs and provide essential resources, such as notifying clients or patients that their data was exposed, credit monitoring services for affected clients, and PR campaigns to restore reputation.

For example, if a doctor's office suffered a ransomware attack that affected up to 100,000 patients, it could force them to lock their patient billing and scheduling software in order to investigate the breach and prevent further damage.

Cyber liability insurance would cover business interruption expenses while the facility works to re-boot and upgrade security on their system.

Cyber liability insurance for financial professionals can cover legal fees and expenses while also providing vital resources to help recovery if they experience a cyberattack or data breach.

For example, if a tax preparer asks a client to upload a document with sensitive data online and that client data is stolen or compromised, the affected client might decide to sue the tax preparer to recoup expenses.

Cyber liability insurance can shield your business from legal expenses related to a data breach by paying for court costs and attorney fees.

Cyber liability insurance for real estate professionals can cover legal expenses while also providing resources to help aid affected customers in response to a data breach.

For example, if a real estate agent asks a client to provide their social security number or credit card number for a mortgage document and that information is exposed during a cyberattack, the client might decide to sue the agent for damages from the breach.

Cyber insurance can provide coverage for attorney fees, PR campaigns, as well as client notification and credit monitoring services.

Cyberattacks can happen when the network security at a business is not up to date, or the employees lack the training or knowledge to recognize phishing attempts, ransomware, and other cyber hacking red flags.

According to a recent report, 82% of ransomware attacks target small businesses. Many ransomware gangs are attempting to extort companies that are lucrative enough to pay a heftier ransom amount, but also small enough in size to make hacking attempts easier, as well as keep any media and law enforcement attention low during the fallout.

When a data breach or cyberattack incident occurs at a business, cyber liability insurance can help defray costs to the business and help a company to survive the breach.

Learn more about protecting your business from ransomware attacks and other threats.

Cybercrime is a multibillion-dollar industry. Security firms constantly struggle to stay one step ahead of hackers looking for lucrative victims. Even with careful security measures in place, catastrophic data breaches can, and do, occur.

Phishing emails, malware, security breaches, network security issues, and computer system breakdowns are just a few examples of the kinds of cyber risks that could cause serious liability or losses.

This could impact a financial planning business that stores bank account information, or even a gaming app developer that collects user profile information.

Learn more about what to do after a data breach.

If you want to learn more about this policy, you can find additional answers in our frequently asked questions about cyber liability insurance.

If there are any additional questions you have about coverage, you can also contact an Insureon agent.