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cyber insurance

Cybersecurity and How It Affects Us All

October 25, 2019 By Flor Caballero Lynch

Think about how many computers you use and how many you see being used on a dailyinternet-3592056_960_720 basis (Smartphones count too!) and you will start to realize how embedded computers and the internet is in our lives! It’s incredible! With the amount of people and businesses using computers you start to see how if a cyberattack were to happen on any level, how badly it would affect our society as a whole!

Our world is so connected that if one part of that web starts to go down due to an attack that there’s a good chance that it can spread to other parts with ease! If you find that you are a victim of a cyberattack do your part and disconnect yourself and don’t expose your system to others in any way, such as connecting a USB stick from your infected system to a system that you use at work! Treat it like an illness, and know that it is contagious in computers just like the Flu would be to humans!

If you have a business that is affected, it is smart to let your customers know what is going on to safeguard themselves and to contain the cyberattack as best as you can! Do not keep it a secret as many other companies have done and failed in doing, it will hurt your business to the point of bankruptcy! cyber-security-1914950_960_720

But always remember that best defense is your first line of defense when it comes to cybersecurity—beef up on your network’s security and make sure you are always up-to-date with your firmware! You wouldn’t lock up a safe with an old lock, and you wouldn’t secure your network with out-of-date software!

Filed Under: Cyber Insurance, General Liability Insurance, Insurance Tagged With: cyber crime, cyber insurance, cyber liability, cyber security, general liability, ransomware

How To Get Cybersecurity Insurance

October 18, 2019 By Flor Caballero Lynch

ransomware-2320793_960_720When I was opening up my newest business I knew that I was going to lean on a computer system at my shop to keep it running smoothly and at top output! Due to this, I also knew that I should invest in some sort of cybersecurity type insurance when insuring the rest of my business since it was just as important to have computer and internet access as it would be for me to have running water at my shop as well!

Cyber liability insurance covers the cost for a business to recover from a data breach, virus, or other cyberattack, it also covers legal claims resulting from the breach! Since I would have client information as well as a point-of-sale terminal connected to the internet it was a necessity rather than a luxury at this point! I asked my agent to add it to my coverage, I was asked a few questions about my business, and I was given a new quote to which I agreed to—very simple and easy!cyber-4508911_960_720

The costs cant vary, but in the long run it will be very useful since we are embarking into a new age of the internet! But always remember that a good defense starts with you— keep yourself safe through always practicing safe computer usage and make sure all systems are fully updated, no matter what!

Filed Under: Cyber Insurance, General Liability Insurance, Insurance Tagged With: cyber crime, cyber insurance, cyber liability, cyber security, general liability, ransomware

The New Crime On The Block, Ransomware: Hostage Computer Networks

October 11, 2019 By Flor Caballero Lynch

ransomware-2320941_960_720One of the strangest things you will see on the news happening more and more will be businesses’ networks, and sometimes entire city’s networks being taken hostage by hackers from other countries in a Ransomware attack! The reason this is happening in greater numbers is people in other countries without internet laws are dong this to make money off of the ever-growing internet landscape and it’s turning into a hacker’s gold rush! Due to this it becomes an absolute must to protect yourself and your business!

One of the most recent examples occurred in Wilmer, Texas in where an entire city’s ransomware-3998798_960_720network was taken hostage by a group of hackers—so the city decided to switch back to paper so they can check out books at libraries, issue licenses, and allow police officers to write tickets as well! It must be a strange sight to see a police officer not use a computer at all when pulling over a person and writing a ticket!

Town after town, business after business are continually being hit by these attacks for millions of dollars—usually paid via Bitcoin, which is a challenge to obtain, let alone in large quantities! 22 towns in Texas and countless businesses being held hostage with Ransomware and the number only going to keep rising! With this growing threat it becomes smart to get cybersecurity insurance to keep your business and livelihood afloat!

Filed Under: Cyber Insurance, Insurance Tagged With: cyber crime, cyber insurance, cyber liability, cyber security, general liability, ransomware

Your Business and Cyber Security

October 5, 2019 By Flor Caballero Lynch

internet-1862312_960_720In 2019, Cybersecurity has become such a huge issue and will continue to do so as we become more and more reliant on computers in all aspects of our lives! It is forecasted that by 2022 there will be 29 billion devices connected to the internet and the means that there are 29 billion doors for a hacker to get through!

With this huge influx of devices on the internet it becomes extremely important to make sure that the ones that are connected to your business are secured, as well as you investing in good cybersecurity insurance to protect your business IF a hacker is able to get through your first line of defense—security on your own network!

Security on your own network usually comes in the way of encrypting all access points,internet-3563638_960_720 encrypting data, using antivirus software, and using common sense! Educate yourself and employees about using unauthorized or “found” hardware (USB Stick in the parking lot for instance), and let them know that they are not to use such things under any circumstances! Another point of security that you should go over with everyone in your business would be visiting unknown or non-work related websites, doing so may keep your business from running into a hacker!

When investing in cybersecurity insurance, be sure to let your agent know everything about your business so you know that you are properly covered—and many times you can add it as a rider to your General Liability coverage! Jut be sure to ask what your options are and do not wait, we are at the beginning of a new internet age!

Filed Under: Cyber Insurance, Insurance Tagged With: cyber crime, cyber insurance, cyber security, general liability, insurance

A Tea-Kettle Could Take Down A Company… If It Really Wanted To!

December 26, 2017 By Aaronflorlynch

You’re at work right now, and earlier when you were walking in you found an unknown expensive flash drive that says it holds 128 GB sitting in the parking lot.

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I know that you want to plug it in and see what is on it, and keep it since 128 GB is unreal to just find! But the question you need to ask yourself is: Should you?

It is common instinct to just plunk the drive into your work PC’s USB port and see what’s on it, but I honestly think you should just throw it in the trash and let everyone else in the office know to do the same.

Leave it a mystery, it’s better off to leave it that way than regret it later!

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You can pay thousands of dollars on network security, painstakingly plan out contingencies, have an IT guy on deck to take care of issues, but most of the time the weakest link in a business’ network can be the employees themselves.

The US Department of Homeland Security ran tests to see how hard it was for hackers to find a way to gain access into systems using the USB-drive-in-the-parking-lot-trick just to see what would happen.

Pretty obvious to not plug in an unknown USB Drive, right?

Sad to say… not really

During this test it was found that 60% of the flash drives that were found in the parking lot of a business were plugged into the company’s computers out of curiosity, and the number went up to ninety percent if the drive had the company’s name or logo printed on it!

Yes, you read that amount correctly: 90%! If you had a 90% chance of winning the lottery wouldn’t you take it? This is what a hacker sees with this type of scenario, this is why these stories need to be heard to show that vulnerabilities exist everywhere!

We can never be prepared for all scenarios, but it is possible to prevent them. We say this because when you purchase cybersecurity insurance for your business we want you to also know how to prevent anything that could and would be harmful to you or your clients. 

network-782707_960_720

Do you have an Amazon Alexa? Or a smart water-cooler for theoffice that you can always monitor flavor levels using an application on your phone? I suggest you identify if you really, really need it because the risks are great when using these devices in a business environment.

Because just as the title of this inaugural post suggests: Even a tea-kettle can lead to the downfall of your company!

Executives at Blackberry discovered a Wi-Fi enabled smart-tea kettle that was used to gain access to their network. Using this kettle, a hacker was able to reroute their internal email to an outside address and could see what was occurring within Blackberry since they had a copy of all of their internal emails!

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Ultimately, this was just an internal test done by the company themselves during a keynote presentation, but the sheer simplicity of the plan was amazing. They did this to show that this technique can be used on companies big and small. If someone were to compromise your network that your Point Of Sale system is on, it could spell bad news for your customers and ultimately your business!

According to McAfee Inc. it is estimated that the cybersecurity issue costs about a $1 trillion USD per year globally, and will continue to grow upward– a number we will always work to ensure that our clients do not contribute to. This is why we want all of our readers to know that you can be proactive yourselves and ensure that your business does not fall prey to hacking attempts!

With our dependency on technology, Cyber Liability Insurance is a must!

By Aaron Young

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Business Insurance, Insurance Tagged With: Business Expense Protection, business insurance, commercial insurance, cp, cyber insurance, data loss, data theft, hacking, information security

Does your business need cyber insurance?

October 12, 2011 By Aaronflorlynch

It’s tempting to assume that a data breach or loss is never going to occur at your company. Unfortunately, that assumption isn’t a reflection of reality. Data is lost every day. Sometimes, that data loss is accidental. Other times, the loss is the result of hackers. When that loss occurs, will your business be covered?

[Read more…] about Does your business need cyber insurance?

Filed Under: Business Insurance Tagged With: business insurance, cyber insurance, data loss, data theft, hacking, information security

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El Paso, TX 79902

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