Data hackers can cost businesses big money. Travelers, a leading provider of Cyber Insurance, suggests that it could cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 million if they suffer a breach. Since any company that accepts electronic payments is at risk, Cyber Insurance has become one of the most important types of insurance any business can purchase.
“At Travelers, we want to help you avoid a data breach in the first place. By connecting companies to cyber resources to help learn about cyber risks, data security best practices and incident response planning, we can help companies prepare themselves to better respond to and withstand a data breach.” – Tim Francis, Travelers’ Enterprise Cyber Lead.
How Cyber Insurance Can Prevent a Breach
As you might expect, Cyber Insurance helps your company recoup the costs of an incident. Each policy is different but most of them cover the same basic things.
- Business Disruption
- Revenue Loss
- Equipment Damage
- Legal Fees
- Public Relations Expense
What you may not know is that Cyber Insurance can also help protect your company before a breach occurs. For instance, many insurance companies help businesses create an incident response plan. They also encourage intrusion detection systems to help companies spot an attack while it is occurring. At the very least, they can help you assess your risk.
Tips for Minimizing Cyber Risk
One of the primary things you can do to minimize your risk is to understand where your data is stored. Plus, you should have policies in place for the collection and protection of that information.
“To help protect your company’s data, Travelers cyber professionals recommend you understand where all of your private or confidential information is stored. Create and test policies and procedures concerning the collection and storage of data, and have a document retention procedure in place to ensure you avoid keeping data you do not need.” – Traveler’s Insurance
Protect laptops and other devices with secure passwords. It is easy for a criminal to steal a laptop and use it as a way into a company’s system. To minimize the risk further, you should never store private or confidential data on company laptops. Instead, encrypt the data on a server and give your employee a secure login.
Another way to prevent a breach from occurring is to meet with a cybersecurity expert. They will help you evaluate the risk potential for your business. Many insurance companies, such as Travelers, have someone that works with their policyholders.
When you secure cyber insurance, you can be assured that whichever company holds your policy will want to minimize your risk as much as you do.
© Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.