Cyber liability insurance has been around for 25 years and is a popular coverage, but we’ve found there’s still plenty of people who don’t know much about it.
Or even why they might need it.
A 2016 LexisNexis research report shows that this year compared to last year, every dollar of fraud cost merchants $2.40, up from $2.23 a year ago. The LexisNexis report also finds the volume of fraud has risen sharply in the last year in a survey of more than 1,000 risk and fraud executives in ecommerce and multichannel retail organizations.
The monthly average of successful fraudulent transactions jumped from 156 to 206, while the number of prevented fraudulent transactions also increased, from 177 to 236, according to LexisNexis. The level of fraud as a percentage of revenue has inched upward from 1.32 percent to 1.47 percent.
It’s more than that, though. For business owners with websites and online services that include merchandise, or product sales for fee-based services, or have personal information of consumers — think a medical billing office, for example — it’s critical to have secure hosting services and compliance with all regulations.
Think of it as enjoying security in an insecure world.
We spoke with Neil Waranch, a sales executive at Insco Insurance Group in Virginia Beach, about this issue and he said he personally knows a lot of people who have been affected by cyber fraud, including himself. About six years ago he got a call from his bank saying his credit card had been used in a series of transactions outside the state. Waranch traced the stolen information back to the use of his credit card in a fast-food drive-thru the previous day. So theft can happen to anyone in any situation, whether you’re hitting up a fast-food joint, a big corporation, or the federal government.
For businesses, when cyber-related fraud happens the question becomes: Who will take care of you? In an age when anyone can be hacked, Waranch says it’s critical for businesses to have both cyber liability insurance and a plan in place. It’s a must have to cover companies, damages and even court costs. Policy cost is minimal compared to the catastrophic cost that can occur.
Insco Insurance Group provides cyber liability insurance for protection purposes and Waranch suggests anyone who has a website and takes credit cards must have it. He stresses that small businesses can be absolutely devastated by a breach.
Waranch cites an example he heard first-hand of the owner of a coffee shop in a small town that got hit with a data breach and did not have cyber liability coverage. The business got wiped out by lawsuits, attorney fees and not to mention the damage to reputation.
How secure is your website hosting service? At ZZ Servers, our secure web hosting is not only affordable, especially for small and mid-size businesses, but has the topflight security that the biggest businesses demand.
Some of the features of the ZZ Servers secure web hosting services include:
— Server log retention and review;
— File integrity scanning and intrusion detection;
— Server level security and patches;
— Enterprise server hardware with multiple levels of redundancy.
— PCI Validated Web Hosting and Services are included.
For security, peace of mind and to ensure your business has a future, be sure to carry cyber liability insurance and talk to us about website hosting services
