It should be no surprise to you that the world has gone digital. With Phoenix businesses ever-increasing their resources, time, and footprint online, there are some very real risks that you should be sure to consider when doing business via the internet. This consideration is especially important if your business takes credit/debit card payments through your website, keeps any personal client information such as medical records or social security numbers, or if you have a social media presence that could be hacked into.
Phoenix Cyber Liability Insurance is a relatively new type of coverage for the insurance market. It has actually been around for about a decade, but only more recently has it gained attention when horrible examples of cybersecurity nightmares have come about. One only has to think about recent attacks on Target, Yahoo, LinkedIn, and Dropbox to know that this is a reality facing the business. In an ever-increasing technological world, cyber liability insurance will become the norm rather than the exception as business owners experience the effects of what a data breach can cost them.
Though the most memorable examples of companies needing this type of coverage are big businesses, small businesses are certainly at risk. According to Symantec’s 2010 SMB Protection report, small businesses:
- Sustained an average loss of $188,000 per breach
- Comprised 73% of total cyber-crime targets/victims
- Lost confidential data in 42% of all breaches
- Suffered direct financial losses in 40% of all breaches
Symantec 2010 SMB Information Protection Survey.
It is important to be aware that Phoenix, AZ Cyber Liability Insurance is a unique policy that is not covered under a standard insurance product. It should be designed to meet your business’s specific needs but generally, it covers first-party and third-party risks. First-party coverage may cover items such as the loss of business income from a data breach, the cost to hire a firm to recover data from a computer infected with a virus or the cost to hire a firm to manage public relations after a breach has occurred. Third-party may cover items such as network security breaches or the costs resulting from a legal proceeding alleging the violation of privacy law. With how sophisticated cyber-crime has become, it can happen to your business despite your best efforts to stop it.
We, at Smart Move Insurance, believe that it is in the best interest of your Arizona company to really consider how your business does business digitally. The value of your data, the potential costs of replacing that data, the legal liability of housing personal or valuable data, how your business could withstand a network shutdown if you host any online discussions that could risk libel or false claim accusations; all are important to look at when analyzing how to protect your business.
For those in industries with further regulation on personal information such as the medical field with HIPAA concerns and the education field with FERPA issues, this becomes all the more important.
To discuss whether this coverage is right for your business, contact Smart Move Insurance at our Phoenix, Arizona office by phone at 480-397-9525.
