As technology becomes increasingly important for successful business operations and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) promises much stricter penalties for lax data security, the value of a strong cyber liability insurance policy will continue to grow. No matter your business’ size, location or industry, the nature of the modern business world exposes you to cyber threats. A cyber-attack not only threatens your finances and disrupts your operations, it also tarnishes your reputation. To protect your business from the devastating fallout of a cyber attack, it’s vital that you protect yourself with a robust cyber insurance policy.

Cyber insurance policies are created to suit your needs and offer a number of important benefits, which may include the following:

Business interruption loss. If your organization experiences an IT failure or cyber-attack that disrupts your business operations, your insurer may cover your loss of income during the interruption. Increased costs to your business operations in the aftermath of a cyber attack may also be covered.

Policy breach costs. Policies will either a have a single clause or be split into two separate clauses: breach costs and private liability. A breach costs clause provides cover for costs that arise from dealing with a security breach such as notifying customers. A privacy liability clause provides cover for privacy infringement claims and associated legal costs in the event of a breach, which is critical for all organisations that handle or store personal information.

Cyber extortion. Your policy may cover you in the event that your organization is infected by ransomware or any other malicious software that attempts to seize control of, and withhold access to, your operational or personal data until a fee is paid. Last year the frequency of such attacks on businesses rose 50% according to the BBC.

Digital asset replacement expenses. In the event that your organisation’s digital assets are lost, corrupted or altered in any way by a cyber-criminal, your policy may cover the costs.

Media liability. In the event that a libel, slander, defamation or infringement of intellectual property rights claim in brought against your organization as a result of your digital media presence, your policy may cover you.

Forensic support. This provides your organisation with near immediate 24/7 support from cyber specialists following a hack or data breach.

Reputational damage. Your policy may recoup lost profits directly attributable to cyber-attacks.

Management liability. In this era of increased executive accountability and transparency, your policy may cover costs associated with defending senior management from cyber-attack fallout.

Contact Lockyers to review your cyber liability and business insurance. We’re here to help.