Coverage for the costs that can follow a cyber event.
Designed for certain expenses and liability arising from data breaches, ransomware, privacy incidents and network interruption.
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WHAT IT DOES
The costs start before anyone works out who is liable.
A cyber event creates two problems: the cost of responding, and the liability that may follow. The response service often matters more than the limit.
01
Customer information is exposed
02
Ransomware disrupts operations
03
A compromised account causes unauthorised activity
04
A privacy incident creates notification and legal costs
A cyber policy may respond in each case, subject to its wording, limits, exclusions and conditions.
WHAT IT MAY COVER
Common areas of coverage.
Breach Response
Access to incident response support, and the forensic work needed to establish what happened.
Privacy Liability
Third-party claims and regulatory costs arising from personal or confidential information being exposed.
Ransomware and Cyber Extortion
Costs associated with an extortion demand, where the policy includes it and the insurer’s conditions are met.
Business Interruption
Income lost while systems are unavailable following a covered cyber event, subject to the waiting period.
Data Restoration
The cost of restoring or recreating data and systems affected by a covered event.
Social Engineering
Where the policy includes it, certain losses from funds transferred after a fraudulent instruction.
Cyber wordings vary, and cover often depends on the controls you declared. A broker can confirm what a policy includes.
WHAT IT DOESN’T REPLACE
A cyber policy is not an IT budget, and not a warranty.
Cyber answers for the consequences of an incident, not for maintaining systems. Several related risks are insured separately.
Technology E&O
Allegations that technology work you delivered for a client was negligent or inadequate.
Crime
Employee dishonesty and certain theft of money or securities, which many wordings treat separately.
Physical damage to hardware and premises, rather than the data on them.
Third-party bodily injury and property damage from your operations.
Directors and Officers
Claims against directors and officers about how the organisation was governed.
IT Maintenance and Warranty
Patching, upgrades, backups and vendor obligations, which remain your responsibility.
These are general distinctions, not a statement of what any policy does. A broker can review the wording with you.
WHO COMMONLY NEEDS IT
The operations that most often carry a cyber policy.
Anywhere the business holds data it cannot afford to lose or expose. These are the HIFA industry pages where it comes up most often.
NOT SURE WHERE YOU FIT?
A broker can check the controls before the insurer does.
Tell us what data you hold and how your systems are secured. A commercial broker can review the risk and the wording with you before you approach the market.
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REAL CLAIM EXAMPLES
Two situations worth thinking through in advance.
Compromised Account
A staff email account is accessed by an unauthorised party and correspondence containing personal information is exposed.
A cyber policy may respond to breach response, forensic and notification costs, and to the privacy liability that follows.
Ransomware Interruption
Systems are encrypted and operations stop for several days while the business restores from backups.
A cyber policy may respond to data restoration costs and to business interruption after the waiting period. What is payable depends on the controls in place and what was declared to the insurer.
Illustrative example
Illustrative only. These are not a statement of coverage. Every claim is assessed on its own facts against the policy in force.
WHAT AFFECTS THE PRICE
Two businesses holding similar data can price very differently.
THE CONTROLS
Multi-factor authentication
How backups are held and tested
Remote and administrative access
Third-party providers you rely on
Staff training and email filtering
THE EXPOSURE
Annual revenue
Type and volume of data held
Industry and regulatory environment
Requested limits and deductible
Prior incidents and claims
Security controls move cyber pricing more than anything else, and some insurers will not quote without them. A broker can tell you what is expected.
WHAT WE’LL ASK YOU
The questions that change the policy.
01
What data do you collect or store, and where does it live?
02
Do you use multi-factor authentication, and on what?
03
How are backups managed, and when were they last tested?
04
Who has remote or administrative access?
05
What third-party providers do you depend on?
06
Have there been prior cyber incidents or near misses?
Common questions
What owners ask about cyber insurance.
I use a secure cloud provider. Do I still need cyber insurance?
What is Social Engineering Fraud coverage?
Will the policy pay a ransom?
Why did I get denied for cyber insurance?
What is the most valuable part of a cyber policy?
How is cyber insurance different from technology errors and omissions?
READY TO TALK?
Let’s look at the data before there is an incident to talk about.
Tell us what you hold, what you rely on and how it is secured. A commercial broker can review the risk before approaching insurers.
Want to talk now?