Today, just like how you can insure your car or your home against damage or theft, you can insure your business against the losses and harm of a potential cyberattack. This is a practical option for many businesses in all different industries. While you always hope to prevent an attack with adequate cybersecurity measures, sometimes luck simply isn’t on your side, and you can find yourself staring down a disastrous situation. Cybersecurity insurance helps to mitigate the negative impacts of these moments, making it an invaluable investment.
Not every insurance claim is approved for coverage, however, and without the right preparation, you might find that the safety net of your cyber insurance policy isn’t there for you to fall back on. This is why it’s so important to be sure you’re taking steps to give yourself the best chance of success if you ever have to make a cyber insurance claim. Here are the basics of what you need to know!
When Can You File a Cyber Insurance Claim?
If you have a cyber insurance policy in place, the first thing you should do in the event of a breach, hack, or other attack is to notify your insurance provider. This is something you should take care of as soon as possible, even if the situation seems minor or unlikely to cause any damage. Waiting to make an incident report could make your claim more likely to be denied, so don’t wait to call your insurance provider when something happens.
Next, you’ll want to gather as much evidence and documentation as possible about the incident. This can include everything from communication logs and monitoring records from your cybersecurity system to forensic reports conducted by internal or external sources. Once this information is collected, you’ll submit your claim to your insurance provider and wait while they assess the situation and potentially conduct their own investigation into the breach. If the claim is approved, your insurance provider will provide the coverage that’s described in your policy!
Why are Some Cyber Insurance Claims Denied?
No insurance company agrees to cover all of the claims that it receives, so your focus as a business owner is best placed on maximizing the chances of your claim being well received. Claims can be denied for many reasons, but often a delay in reporting or a lack of sufficient evidence is the culprit. You need to be able to reliably prove that the incident happened when you say it did in the way you say it did. In order to do this, it helps to be prepared far ahead of time, before the threat of a breach is even on the horizon. You’ll likely be much better off if you’ve been keeping detailed records over time!
Compliance and Records: Preparing Insurance Information
Keeping detailed records on the activity within your network and your cybersecurity protocols is a practice that can pay dividends if you ever find yourself needing to file a cybersecurity insurance claim. Documentation is an insurance company’s bread and butter, and the more evidence around an incident you’re able to provide, the better. For example, two law firms might both be hacked in similar ways, but the one that’s able to provide detailed logs of access control measures during their insurance provider’s breach investigation is the one more likely to receive a payout.
Since you never know when a cyberattack might occur, the best practice is to always keep good records, so that you always have them just in case you ever need them! Even performing a simple security audit of your system once or twice a year can make the difference between approval or denial in the case of an insurance claim, so these are good habits to form for your business.
Working with Progressive Computer Systems
As important as it is to stay in compliance with the terms of your cyber insurance and keep careful records just in case they’re ever needed, we here at Progressive Computer Systems understand that business owners have many demands on their time, leaving little room for jumping through the hoops of insurance and cybersecurity. We also cannot stress the testing of these systems, processes, and protocols enough. If you have these measures in place, TEST THEM. And test them routinely. This is not an area that you want to trust the old “set and forget” method. That’s why we make it our business to help you! From basic computer repair to full security audits and compliance assistance, we can help you manage the technical aspects of your business so that when you need it most, everything is in place to protect you, your team, and your clients. Contact us today to learn more!
