“Let’s draw an analogy and see if it holds water,” to quote Joe Pesci from “My Cousin Vinny”.

You drive a car.

You’re a good driver.

You don’t text and drive. Okay, you do, but only at stoplights. Okay, you rarely text and drive. We know.

You don’t drink and drive.

So, what do you do with respect to your car, yourself, and your family to protect all three?

What do you do to protect your organization’s data?

Every business owner that has experienced an “incident” has said the same thing to me: “I wish I had purchased higher limits.” Why? Because there are so many things that create exposure and the risk is so highly leveraged. Here’s a pneumonic to remember the risks: “Dave noticed four restored businesses in Puerto Rico legally fined for ransom and social engineering + bricking.” What follows are the multiple risks to your business and how insurance can help.

Who can be breached? Ask yourself who can be involved in a traffic accident? You can be sitting at the red light, minding your own business and WHAM! someone slams into the back of your car. (It has happened to me more than once). You did nothing wrong, but you will certainly pay a price. You may do everything right with respect to your data but your employees or a contractor you work with may innocently introduce something malicious and WHAM! someone has taken control of your data. Human error accounts for over 90% of data breaches. See this article for more information. https://blog.usecure.io/the-role-of-human-error-in-successful-cyber-security-breaches

Large corporations and government entities can withstand (usually) a cyber incident. However, 60% of small to medium size businesses go out of business after a data breach. Here’s more information on that topic. https://hacked.com/small-businesses-get-hacked/ Yes, you do all the right things to protect your data – as you do with your car – and still accidents can (and will) happen. Sadly, they can happen to you and those you know and with whom you do business.

Have you ever done business with or used one of these companies? Adobe, eBay, Equifax, CVS, Apple, Heartland Payment Systems, Exxon, Toyota, LinkedIn, Marriott International, My Fitness Pal, Target, Yahoo? Each of these well-known companies have suffered data breaches; and, this is just the tip of the iceberg and doesn’t include the government and municipality entities that have been hacked.

So, right now you’re sitting at your desk, reading this article, minding your own business; and . . . you hope nothing happens to your data. I sincerely hope I’m wrong; but, hope is not a plan (nor is it an insurance policy). Sooner or later it’s likely something will happen to your data. You can rely on hope and your earnest efforts alone to get your through the event or you can purchase cyber insurance and all the resources a quality policy offers as an additional layer of protection.

Did the analogy hold water? For more information or questions related to your cyber security contact Casey Fernandez, Hylant Insurance 407.492.4248 or casey.fernandez@hylant.com

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