Unfortunately, data breaches and other cyber crimes are becoming way too common. In the past couple years, data breaches have resulted in major fines and legal fees – not to mention headaches – for a discount retail chain, one of the nation’s largest banks, a well-known health insurer, an entertainment network, and the federal government.

But it’s not just large organizations that are susceptible to being hacked or getting a virus. Did you know that 55% of small businesses have experienced a data breach and that 53% have had multiple breaches?

A data breach can damage more than just your small-business computer system – it also can damage your reputation and put your customers and/or employees at risk. That’s why cyber insurance can be a smart precaution for any size business.

What is Cyber Insurance?

Cyber insurance generally covers your business’ liability for a data breach involving sensitive customer information, such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, account numbers, driver’s license numbers and health records.

Won’t My General Liability Policy Cover Cyber Liability?

This covers bodily injuries and property damage resulting from your products, services or operations. Cyber insurance is often excluded from a general liability policy.

What Does Cyber Insurance Cover?

Besides legal fees and expenses, cyber insurance typically helps with:

• Notifying customers about a data breach
• Restoring personal identities of affected customers
• Recovering compromised data
• Repairing damaged computer systems

Most states require companies to notify customers of a data breach involving personally identifiable information – a process that can be very expensive. And even though most states don’t require companies to offer free credit monitoring following a breach, such a gesture goes a long way with public relations.

Ransomware is malware designed to deny a user or organization access to files on their computer. By encrypting these files and demanding a ransom payment for the decryption key, these malware place organizations in a position where paying the ransom is the easiest and cheapest way to regain access to their files.