{"id":15549,"date":"2022-09-14T16:00:04","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T16:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markperlbergcpa.com\/why-your-atlanta-business-needs-cyber-insurance\/"},"modified":"2022-09-14T16:00:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T16:00:04","slug":"why-your-atlanta-business-needs-cyber-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prosperlcpa.com\/blog\/2022\/09\/why-your-atlanta-business-needs-cyber-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Your Atlanta Business Needs Cyber Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In today\u2019s online-driven world, it\u2019s no surprise that securing sensitive information is essential. Just like you cover your Atlanta business for other possible risks (property damage, theft, injury, etc.) so should you also be thinking of how to keep your business safe from virtual attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

And lest you immediately think: But<\/i> Mark \u2013 my business is completely different! <\/i>Well, read on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Data breaches are rampant these days (In fact <\/span>the IRS just had one<\/span><\/a>. Yikes!). So, it just makes good sense to put protocols into place to prepare. <\/span><\/p>\n

And there is one specific way to prepare that I want to talk about today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before I get there, let\u2019s take a moment to check-in. As we round the corner to the final quarter of the year, are you on track to meet your business goals? Best laid plans can get sidetracked in the midst of the daily grind of running daily operations. If you want a financial analysis of where your books are at currently, let\u2019s sit down:<\/span><\/p>\n

calendly.com\/mark-perlberg-cpa<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n

And to continue looking out for you, I\u2019d also like to get into what you can do to pad your Atlanta business in terms of protecting your technological assets\u2026 specifically, a little something called cyber insurance.<\/p>\n

Why Your Atlanta Business Needs Cyber Insurance<\/strong><\/span>
\u201cPasswords are like underwear: You don\u2019t let people see it, you should change it very often and you shouldn\u2019t share it with strangers.\u201d – Chris Pirillo<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The computers suddenly slow to a crawl. Customers start complaining they\u2019re getting nonsense emails from your address. Out of nowhere, your system is telling all your employees to reset their password. And the biggie: You try to open a file and are told in big letters they\u2019re now ENCRYPTED. <\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations: You\u2019ve most likely been cyberattacked. What started in recent years with headline breaches of big boys like Facebook, Yahoo, Uber, and Target has become so common now that a whole industry has grown up to insure companies against these hackings. <\/span><\/p>\n

What is cyberattack insurance \u2013 and how do you shop for it? <\/span><\/p>\n

What have you got to lose?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s been a while since a household name in this country was cyberattacked, but maybe that\u2019s also because the attacks are getting routine. Toward the end of last year, <\/span>1 in every 61<\/i><\/span><\/a> organizations the world over was hit by ransomware each week<\/i>. The U.S. remains a top target. <\/span><\/p>\n

What does the insurance industry think of this, well, mess? As you probably know, with business insurance, \u201cexposures\u201d translates into how often a business is susceptible to risks that can cause loss and in turn affect premiums. In terms of cyberattack, do you have a lot of customer data? A breach in that case could mean big liability to an insurance provider.  <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You should start your insurance shopping by assessing what the insurer\u2019s going to have to pay for if you\u2019re breached. How is your data stored? If electronically, how\u2019s the security of your system? Do you use a cloud provider? <\/span><\/p>\n

How do you back up your files? How often? Where are the backups kept? Do your employees take laptops out of the office? (That last one\u2019s very common \u2013 and some companies don\u2019t think about it until it\u2019s too late.) <\/span><\/p>\n

The average small business has to pay well into the five figures to recover from a cyberattack \u2013 if not more.<\/span><\/p>\n

What you\u2019re shopping for<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Your standard business liability insurance either doesn\u2019t protect you at all in the event of a cyberattack or gives you only barebones coverage. Not enough. <\/span><\/p>\n

Cyber insurance generally comes as either first-party coverage (which helps you get your own network and systems back) or third-party coverage (to help clients, customers and partners hurt by the attack on your system). <\/span><\/p>\n

Your policy should cover data breaches, cyberattacks, ransomware extortion, and terrorist acts. You should also see if the carrier will defend you in a lawsuit or regulatory investigation (look for \u201cduty to defend\u201d in the fine print) or provide coverage that exceeds other insurance you have. <\/span><\/p>\n

Coverage usually addresses: <\/span><\/p>\n

Loss of data.<\/i> Your business policy typically covers your computer equipment but not the information that the equipment contains\u2026 Data that these days is even more important to keep your company running. <\/span><\/p>\n

Business interruption.<\/i> Ransomware hackers love to freeze computer systems. How much money would you lose if you were dead in the water for a day? A week? A month? <\/span><\/p>\n

Investigation and notification costs.<\/i> Depending on your industry, various federal and state laws require you to notify customers of data breaches. (You may even have to comply with the laws of every state where your customers live.) And you\u2019re almost certainly going to need an outside cyber-forensic expert to drill down into what happened. Insurance can also help pay any fines or penalties you get hit with. <\/span><\/p>\n

Legal costs. <\/i>Expert counsel is key \u2013 and often expensive \u2013 in this field of liability. <\/span><\/p>\n

PR costs. <\/i>Brand rebuilding is pricey \u2013 and your reputation may need some TLC after your cyberattack hits the news. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Cyber insurance runs about fifteen hundred bucks a year, but the devil is in such details as your type and size of business and of course the deductible, among many others. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Whose market is it, anyway?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As cybercrooks evolve and get craftier (latest scam: bogus offers of COVID training for employees), insurance carriers are getting pickier about who and what they\u2019ll cover. Carriers \u2013 including Lloyd\u2019s of London \u2013 are growing increasingly wary of policies for protection from state-sponsored hacking. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Typically, carriers also won\u2019t cover you if you have clear holes in your security before a breach occurs. They also often won\u2019t reimburse you for future profits you lose from a cyberattack or even the costs of fortifying your systems against attacks down the road. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ask about \u201csocial engineering\u201d attack coverage. This is when your employees follow instructions from fraudulent emails or other electronic communication. It\u2019s technically not a system breach, so you\u2019ll probably need a special rider to cover it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Your other questions for carriers: <\/span><\/p>\n