New Hampshire Cyber Liability Insurance

NH Cyber Liability Insurance

What is Cyber Insurance?

The vast majority of businesses are exposed to a variety of cyber risks that they need protection from. Cyber insurance helps shield New Hampshire businesses from many of these risks.

Cyber insurance is a specialized type of commercial liability insurance, and it’s a comparatively new form of coverage. There’s not yet a uniform set of protections that policies provide, so it’s especially important to compare different insurers’ policy offerings with an insurance agent who specializes in this coverage. A commercial risk specialist at HPM Insurance will be familiar with the various cyber risks businesses face and how different policies protect (or don’t protect) against those risks.

What Businesses in New Hampshire Need Cyber Liability Insurance?

Whether you run a small consulting firm out of your home or own a large manufacturing corporation, your business is at risk because of cyber liability. You can have anti-virus software, firewalls and even be diligent about changing passwords, but if the largest companies and governments continue to have data stolen, your company is at risk as well.

Most businesses in New Hampshire can benefit from getting cyber liability insurance, for the insurance’s protections generally help with multiple cyber risks. Without insurance in place, a single data breach or online attack could result in an expensive ordeal. Few businesses could cover the cost of restoring data, providing credit monitoring and repairing their reputation that a major incident may bring.

NH Cyber Liability Insurance

 

What Types Of Claims Involve Cyber Liability?

Unauthorized access: A Russian hacker electronically gains access to computerized cash registers at a restaurant and steals the credit card information of 5,000 customers, starting a chain of fraudulent purchases around the globe.

Theft of Digital Assets: A retail shop contracts with a 3rd party service provider. A laptop computer is stolen from an employee of the 3rd party service provider while attending a convention. The laptop contains the personal information of thousands of clients of the retailer. Under applicable state notification laws, the retailer, not the 3rd party service provider, is required to notify affected individuals, which will include the notification expense and crisis management to every customer.

Human Error: An administrative assistant at a large daycare is tasked with electronically distributing a monthly newsletter to all clients. She inadvertently distributes a spreadsheet containing all the names, social security numbers, birth dates and medical information for all the children who ever attended the school and thus resulting in a privacy breach.

Though we tend to think about cyber liability as a hacker sitting in a dark room stealing data, it can be caused simply by human error as well. In this day-and-age of mobile technology, we have access to what we need to do our jobs from anywhere, but there is an increased cost/risk with this convenience.

What Costs Do Cyber Liability Policies Help Cover?

When a business is impacted by a covered incident, there are several costs that cyber liability policies might help pay for. Some of the more common expenses that may be covered include:

  • Security Event Costs (i.e. regulatory fines, financial penalties, customer notification costs and public relations expenses)

  • Revenue Lost During a System’s Downtime (i.e. lost sales due to stopped or slowed digital operations)

  • Loss of Digital Assets (i.e. asset losses caused by either damage to a computer or corruption of its files)

In addition to these, some policies also include third-party coverage for the following:

  • Network Security Privacy Liability (i.e. security breaches that violate HIPPA, federal, state or foreign regulations)

  • Employee Privacy Liability (i.e. privacy breaches of employees’ personal information

  • Electronic Media Liability (i.e. defamation, false advertising, plagiarism or trademark infringement claims related to digitally published content)

Does General Liability Insurance Cover Online Defamation and False Advertising Suits?

With the amount of content published online, the risk of publishing something untrue is substantial. Most businesses would be wise to consider how well protected against any claims that might arise if they made a false statement on their website, on their social media platforms or elsewhere online.

Businesses have traditionally obtained protection against defamation and false advertising lawsuits through general liability insurance, but many general liability policies have exclusions for statements that are published digitally. For this reason, businesses frequently need a cyber liability policy that helps cover statements made online.

How Can Businesses in New Hampshire Get Cyber Insurance?

For help finding cyber insurance that’ll give your business solid protection against the digital risks it faces, contact HPM Insurance. Our independent insurance agents are able to request quotes from innovative and established insurance companies in New Hampshire, and they have the expertise necessary to help you decide which available policy will give your business the best protection.