Why do we offer cybersecurity insurance today? Because last year alone, there were more than 16 million victims of cybercrime in the United States! With billions of dollars stolen from common consumers—like yourself—it’s better to be safe than sorry. Now, we’re not saying you should stop using the internet. Just start surfing smarter. Try these basic precautions to help you protect yourself and ask us about how cyber liability insurance can cover your business.
Be Skeptical
When it comes to online claims, remember that “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” At this point, everyone (hopefully) knows that the Nigerian prince offering to transfer several million dollars of inheritance money is a scam, but hackers are always coming up with new tricks. Beware of any email, call, or click-thru link that asks for personal information or your password(s). Scammers today are known to create convincing imitations of legitimate sites from credit cards, to banks, to emails servers. If you get automatically routed to such a page, you can always close your browser and login into the site from a new window. In any case, you should avoid providing your social security number even to legitimate businesses, unless it’s absolutely necessary. Experts also recommend purging your social media, like Facebook and Instagram, of any personal data that might be used to answer your security questions on other websites.
Be Proactive
You don’t have to wait until something happens to start being cautious. In fact, the best way to prevent cybercrime is by being proactive! Monitor your credit cards, bank statements, and other accounts regularly. To make this easier, most companies offer a service where they automatically alert you to any new and/or unusual activity in your name. They may even extend this feature to your overall credit score/report, so you’re able to spot potential scammers sooner. On top of that, you should also install the most up-to-date antivirus protections for all your machines. Anytime your smartphone or tablet suggests an update, download it! Don’t forget to secure your router and Wi-Fi, too. What’s one of the simplest ways you can protect your information? By using hard-to-crack passwords that vary for each site—and updating them regularly.
Be Insured
Even if you take every precaution, there’s still the possibility that your information could be compromised online. As a business owner, the stakes are a little higher. Small business owners, in particular, are heavily targeted when it comes to cybercrime. Fortunately, we now offer cybersecurity insurance, also known as cyber liability insurance, that helps you to recover if something does happen. Whether you’re a victim of lost data and software, or cyber extortion—where the hackers take control of your information and attempt to ransom it back it you—this type of coverage offers reparations. Depending on whether you have first-party coverage or third-party coverage, you could also be insured against security breaches that result in the loss of your information or your customers’. With the disruptions to your business and everything it takes to get back on track, this policy could make a big difference in your overall success.
Hopefully, this is one type of insurance you’ll never need to use, but when it comes to cybersecurity, you can never be too careful. Interacting online is just part of daily life, at this point, so take basic precautions when logging on and off. We follow these steps ourselves to ensure the personal information of ourselves and our clients remains secure! If you have more questions about this or any other type of insurance, please contact Freedom Insurance Agency today.
