Cyber Liability Insurance
Cybersecurity is crucial for keeping company and customer data safe. You don’t have to look far for news stories about companies, large and small, losing money due to phishing scams or other cybersecurity breaches. No business is immune from these attacks. Even without the financial toll, these attacks can sometimes devastate a company’s reputation if customer data is compromised. Having strong cybersecurity policies in place is crucial for all businesses. Two key parts of this are having strong passwords and ensuring data is securely backed up computer.
It is imperative that businesses to provide training to their employees on how to create strong passwords for any work devices employees use. Strong passwords include upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters. If possible, avoid situations where one device is used by multiple employees who share one simple password. This can be a recipe for disaster. Another way to create a strong login system is to use multifactor authentication, where after a password is entered the user is sent a security code or notification to a different device, like their phone. This may be useful software to invest in for extra sensitive information/data.
Despite using strong passwords, hackers could still manage to infiltrate your business’s software system. If you have all your critical data and information backed up, they won’t be able to hold your business hostage. If possible, back up data automatically. If automatic backups are not available, make sure you have a process for regular manual backups, weekly at minimum. Store these backups either off-site or on the cloud. Ensure backup data is kept just as secure as all the other data from your business.
It is important that business owners carefully read contracts for third party payment card software. The fine print may include liability for the business owner if financial data is breached. There are Payment Card Industry Fines (PCI) that a business owner is responsible for if your customers data is breached. This can include costly notifications and security monitoring services being required to provide protections for those whose identifiable information was breached.
