By Marc Slafsky, Salem Five Insurance Services?
Content provided by Travelers Insurance, ISU Network, and Philadelphia Insurance Co.?
October is Cyber Liability Awareness Month.? Did you know:
- Data breaches have increased 42% in the last year.
- 31% of the breaches have occurred in companies with less than 100 employees.
- All Industries are vulnerable.
- The average cost of a breach today has risen to over $5 million dollars.
- The cost associated with a breach averages $188 per compromised record.
Many doctors and dentists aren?t aware that their standard insurance coverages (Malpractice, GL, Property) typically don?t provide proper coverage for cyber and privacy liability. Most also don?t know that they (along with their practice) have an exposure to cyber and privacy risk, especially given the presence of personal health information that they and their vendors have access to and the laws that exist to protect this.
Specifically in the healthcare industry, some claim examples are:
- A lost laptop that has patient records was stolen from a vehicle. This information contained patient names, social security numbers, dates of birth, address, phone number and MEDICAL CONDITIONS.? This could be considered 3-6 Records (depending on state law) that have been compromised.
- A practice was ?down? for 4 days due to a hacker ?attack?; the practice was unable to see patients was they could not access records, scheduling, of critical computer equipment.? The practice lost the revenue for 4 days and had to pay the cost of the repair from the hacker damage.
- Medical information that was scheduled to the shredded per HIPPA laws was accidently thrown away in an unsecured dumpster. This resulted in a class action suit against the practice
A Cyber Liability Insurance policy protects against these types of losses.? The policy pays when insured is liable for theft or loss of unauthorized access to Personal Information, Breach response and Notification and Regulatory Defense and Penalties.
The policy is based on Gross Revenue and the cost can range from $975-$1800 annually for a $1,000,000 of coverage.? This is becoming just as important as your general liability and professional liability in today?s business environment.
If you?d like more information about Cyber Liability Insurance, please contact your insurance broker or Marc Slafsky at Salem Five Insurance (978-720-5144, marc.slafsky@salemfive.com).