| Cyber Liability Insurance for the 21st Century |  |
It’s the 21st Century. Are you covered? Risk management is now more difficult than ever. Beyond the basic “Acts of God,” work comp regulations, lawsuit exposure and general loss from business interruption, now you have to be concerned with something else. That something is Cyber Liability. Sure, you could ignore it. After all, it might not happen to you. But as a business owner that employs people that depend on you to identify risks and mitigate them, why would you ignore an exposure that has become so apparent? In this day and age, you need to take action and protect yourself. Consider the following: - A well known specialty company was sued by customers claiming that the store’s online shopping website was deceptive and confusing in regard to shipping costs. Claimants alleged that the site’s “shopping cart” feature frequently charged customers for ‘rush’ shipping without the customer’s prior knowledge or approval. This suit required the company to issue refunds of overcharges to more than 1500 customers. - A company’s network was hacked by an unauthorized user and sensitive customer information was exposed. This resulted in a class action lawsuit that was recently filed against the retailer. - A company’s email system inadvertently transmitted a malicious virus to more than 1500 clients and recipients causing widespread loss of data, among other damages. The company was sued by the receiving firms for failing to detect and prevent the virus transmission, claiming losses which totaled more than $3.1 million. - A designer’s apparel company included names of competing designers in its website’s metatags (“invisible” keywords inserted in the page to attract search engine users). The designer was sued by competitors who claimed that the use of trademarked names were unauthorized and deceptive. Damages were awarded in the amount of $875,000 plus defense. - An energy company was sued by an ex-employee for breach of privacy, when comments about the ex-employee were circulated via the internet. The result was $400,000 in damages. Do you have a website? Do you use email? What’s on your computers? Who maintains your network? Do you access social sites? Do your employees? ARE YOU PROTECTED? The answer for many today is “NO” and that’s why this has been such an industry-wide hot topic. A hole needs to be filled, and Midwest Family Mutual will be doing just that. Starting January 1st, MFM will be rolling $50,000 of coverage onto all Businessowners, Contractors and Garage policies. By “rolling it on,” we are able to keep the cost relatively low ($65-70). Higher limits up to $1M are available. Just contact your Independent Agent and get protected! This addition will provide you with the coverage you need. You’ll be covered for the following: - Multimedia Liability - Security and Privacy Liability - Privacy Regulatory Defense and Penalties (not allowed in some states) - Privacy Breach Response Costs, Customer Notification Expenses and Customer Support and Credit Monitoring Expenses - Network Asset Protection - Cyber Extortion - Cyber Terrorism In addition to the Cyber Coverage, all commercial customers now have access to MFM’s online Cyber Liability Reference Library. You can find this library in the “Risk Management” section of the Insured Portal (just click “Register” at the top of the site to create an account). This library is LOADED with state specific information that will help you stay in compliance and manage the cyber related risks to which you might be exposed. This is a free resource for all commercial clients. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of it. Please be aware that coverage is not yet available in the following states – Illinois, North Dakota and Montana. Although we do anticipate making $50,000 of Cyber Liability automatic in these states and offering higher limits, it will likely be later in the 1st quarter of 2013. Thanks so much for your business!!!!
Best Regards, |
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Posted on Wednesday, November 21 @ 11:35:36 -05:00
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