Cyber Insurance in Fort McMurray
What data does your organization collect and store about its business, customers, and employees? Do you use e-commerce or rely on an online presence? Do your employees work remotely or use personal devices? Do you store data in the cloud? These are a few situations that increase your risk of cyberattacks.
According to CIRA, six of ten Canadian organizations have a cybersecurity insurance policy due to increased attack volumes. Therefore, having the right coverage and protection against cyberattacks is no longer prudent but necessary.
Cybersecurity risks are becoming increasingly complex and technically exhausting for the average Canadian professional to mitigate. As a result, businesses big and small without enough cybersecurity protection are substantially exposed to attacks, resulting in punitive compliance fines and cyber liability lawsuits.
This post discusses cyber insurance, its coverage, and its essence for the modern Canadian business. It also looks at the role of IT support services in helping Fort McMurray companies prepare for their cyber insurance application.
What is Cyber Risk Insurance?
Cyber insurance covers the cost for an organization to recover from cyberattacks, viruses, data breaches, or data loss. It also covers legal claims arising from attacks or breaches. When a business suffers a cyberattack, cyber insurance provides the solutions it needs to help protect and restore business operations, reputation, and customer trust.
Cyberattacks result in business disruption, revenue loss, public relations expenses, equipment damages, forensic analysis, and costs of legally-mandated notifications. Therefore, with the rise in cyberattacks and surface areas, cyber insurance coverage provides a critical risk solution.
What Does Cyber Insurance Cover?
Comprehensive cyber insurance can cover a range of attacks and helps businesses recover from incidents such as:
- Data confidentiality breaches result in the unauthorized access to, disclosure, or loss of confidential company data assets and personal information
- Technology disruptions such as denial-of-service attacks
- Cyber extortions such as ransomware where attackers demand payment under threat of causing system and data harm
- Legal and civil damages such as paying for legal representation and damages related to network security or privacy breaches
- Security breach remediation and legal notification expenses. These arise when companies must notify affected parties of the data breach and then mitigate potential harm, for example, by providing free credit monitoring
- Computer program and electronic data restoration costs after attacks such as denial-of-service or ransomware
- Forensic investigation expenses to find the root cause and scope of data breaches
Who Needs Cyber Insurance?
Big and small businesses that rely on an online presence or handle customer data require cyber insurance. The new digital business reality means every business should have some cyber liability insurance or consider ways to safeguard against cyberattacks, regardless of the industry.
Cyber insurance products come in one of three ways:
- Stand-alone policies designed for cyber risks are the most common in Canada, the US, and Europe.
- Traditional liability or commercial insurance policies with limited cyber events coverage don't cover the full attack surface or cost of cyberattacks.
- Endorsements or riders that add, remove, or exclude some cyber coverage. They alter traditional commercial or cyber insurance policies to meet specific needs.
Small Canadian businesses are often cost concise, so they primarily invest in their company, employees, and products. However, most of their investment concentrates on business growth and generating revenue, and many overlook cyber security, which is a costly mistake because it's critical to their long-term success.
What Should Fort Murray Businesses Look for in a Cyber Insurance Policy?
Some cybersecurity experts believe cyberattacks are a matter of "when" and not "if" they occur and can affect any company or industry. Others go as far as claiming two business classifications:
- Those that have suffered a breach and know it
- Those that have suffered a breach but don't know it
As a result, businesses require cyber protection and insurance coverage. However, cyber covers don't have a one-size-fits-all approach. Therefore, Fort McMurray businesses need to assess their business needs to determine their level of exposure and how much cover they require. That's where IT support companies like Corporate Networks come in to help.
Below are some of the things related to cyber insurance policies that businesses should consider when determining their ideal coverage:
- Liability limits and sub-limits: For example, a five-million-dollar cover could feature considerably less protection in areas such as crisis management expenses, regulatory investigations, or notification costs.
- Exclusions: Look for exclusions such as outdated software, bodily injuries, card issuer fines, unencrypted data, or acts of foreign governments.
- Retroactive Coverage: Since cyber breaches can remain undetected for months or years, retroactive coverage is critical in protecting businesses against unidentified cyber incidents before the policy's inception.
- Panel provisions: Does the insurer require the use of pre-approved consultants, investigators, or legal professionals?
- Vendor acts and omissions: Does the cyber insurance cover include third-party vendors?
- Consent provisions: Does the policy contain consent provisions requiring businesses to obtain an insurer's consent before spending on cyber claims?
How Corporate Networks Helps Fort Murray Companies Prepare for their Cyber Insurance
Corporate Networks offers comprehensive cybersecurity solutions that include a thorough audit of IT security environments, an overview of potential weaknesses, and how to implement a robust action plan. In addition, the Fort McMurray IT support services provider offers a host of cybersecurity services to help clients navigate the modern IT security landscape.
Corporate Networks partners with clients to attack, detect, and defend against cyberattacks. The company's full-service offerings don't just notify clients of attacks via alerts. Instead, it enables them to solve security issues before, during, and after they occur.
The IT support provider has a dedicated, full-time team of cybersecurity experts who review existing IT landscapes to identify the desired end-state. The team also listens to clients' needs, goals, and challenges to provide honest and unbiased guidance for their cybersecurity needs.
Finally, Corporate Networks helps clients apply for cyber insurance after ensuring they have the required cybersecurity protection and mitigation solutions.
Hire Corporate Networks Today
If you need an IT partner to take care of your technology needs, hire Corporate Networks. We provide comprehensive technology and cloud solutions in Northern Alberta. In addition, as the Alberta technology marketplace leader, we serve organizations looking to outsource IT services and leverage cloud technologies.
We understand the essence of the right cyber insurance cover and protection from the ever-escalating cyberattacks targeting organizations. Therefore, we offer our knowledge and expertise to help our clients apply for cyber insurance in Fort McMurray. We also work with you to ensure you have the required cybersecurity solutions to protect against cyberattacks and data breaches.
Don't neglect your cyber insurance. Contact us today to start the conversation.
