Invest in some cyber insurance

There is always the risk of a cybersecurity attack. You can check and double-check your cybersecurity, but you won’t be able to eliminate all your vulnerabilities.

Hackers could still steal sensitive information and finances, bankrupting your business.

What can you do to keep your business secure? Invest in some cyber insurance—it is one of the only ways to complete your cybersecurity plan and recover your business after a cyber attack.

What is cyber insurance? Cyber and privacy insurance is designed to cover potential losses caused by cybercrime or a data breach. Such insurance policies help companies protect themselves and limit their liability in a cyber attack.

Generally, there are four categories of cyber and privacy insurance that your business could choose from.

1. Network security and privacy liability. First, insurance companies typically offer a policy for network security and privacy liability. This is probably the broadest category as it covers your business in the event of a network security failure, whether that is a data breach, a malware infection, a ransomware demand, or other types of cybercrime. The policy will usually cover the cost of forensic investigations, public relations assistance, ransomware demands, data restoration, legal expenses, notification of affected parties, and credit monitoring for those parties.
2. Business interruption. Another type of insurance is business interruption coverage. If your business’s processes are interrupted due to a cyber attack, this policy will cover your loss of income and even extra costs incurred during the interruption. For example, the policy will cover your profit loss if a network you rely on for operation, either your network or a third-party network, goes down and halts your business operation. Or, this policy could cover your business downtime during a ransomware attack.
3. Media liability. The third type of cyber and privacy insurance is media liability. You may need this coverage if you publish your intellectual information online, and it gets stolen because media liability will cover the legal costs associated with recovering your intellectual property. Keep in mind though, this policy will not cover the loss of company value due to the theft of your intellectual property.
4. Errors and omissions. The last type of cyber insurance, errors and omissions, will cover your liability if a cyber event prevents you from delivering services to your customers. Coverage can include legal defense costs or indemnification when customers sue you for breach of contract.

While those four categories of cyber and privacy liability insurance don’t include all possible coverage options, they should give you a good idea of what your cyber insurance policy may cover.

If you start looking into these different policies, you may find that there are a lot of cyber insurance requirements. 2022 has brought even more cyber insurance requirements that your company must meet before insurance providers will cover your cybersecurity risk. These requirements can range from antivirus software to data backup and firewall protection. But don’t become overwhelmed by the requirements. The benefits of cyber insurance far out way the time, paperwork, and other requirements needed to get insurance.