Cyber Liability/Data Breach

What are Data Breach and Cyber Liability Coverages?

A data breach is an incident in which unauthorized individuals gain access to sensitive, protected, or confidential data. Today more than ever, all companies are at risk for data breaches. Whether your business is large or small, hackers are targeting everyone.

"Data is one of the most valuable assets your company has — and one of the most vulnerable. Increasingly, hackers and malicious threats are targeting smaller businesses because they think they aren't paying attention. It is crucial to have plans in place to keep your data safe at every touch point, protect your systems, monitor for intrusions and be ready to mitigate a breach." — Eric Cernak, vice president of cyber practice at The Hanover

Not sure if you could be a potential target? Ask yourself:

• Do I store, own, or have access to data?
• What kind of data is it?
• How many data records do I have?

Without the right protection, the negative impact of a data breach incident can be extremely costly:

• 25,575 records – average size of a data breach
• $242 – cost per lost record
• 245 days – amount of time to identify and contain a breach

What type of data is at risk?

Data breaches often fall into one of two categories:

• Personal information − such as names, emails, date of birth, street addresses, social security numbers, or phone numbers.
• Financial information − data from business transactions including credit card or bank account information.
• If you store either (or both) of these types of data or transact business electronically, you are at risk.

Have you considered what can happen?

What if...

• An employee loses a laptop, thumb drive, or cell phone with sensitive information?
• An employee steals information and uses it fraudulently?
• Files, invoices, other client paperwork is improperly discarded?
• A hard drive is not wiped clean before discarded?
• A credit card system is compromised?
• A firewall fails and hackers access sensitive information?
• Your data is held for ransom?

All of these could happen to you at any time. If it did, would you be prepared?

Cyber Liability Coverage

This tailored coverage will offer businesses protection from threats posed by cyberattacks and data breaches. These losses include things like losses to a company's finances, reputation, and operational capabilities.

Data breach coverage will help protect your business from the direct costs when a data breach occurs. These costs include things like notifying clients that an incident has occurred, credit monitoring for all those affected, cyber investigation, and public relations expenses.

Cyber liability coverage will help protect your business from the costs associated with a lawsuit against your business — for example, clients alleging financial damage as a result of a data breach.

Coverage highlights include:

• Privacy and security liability for third-party claims arising out of a privacy breach or security breach, including loss or theft of private personal data or failure of your client's system
• Cyber media liability for third-party claims arising out of an electronic media breach such as infringement, trademark, plagiarism, invasion of privacy, defamation, libel and slander resulting from cyber content

Cyber privacy and security coverage combines protection for expenses that businesses pay in an effort to manage the fallout from a data breach with coverage for costs that stem from a lawsuit against a business.