By Susan Elise Campbell
Cyber crime is on the rise so rapidly that more U.S. businesses have been victims of attack than not. Here in the North Country, companies with 10 to 50 employees are frequent targets said Kevin O’Brien, president of TechFirst Insurance Agency in Queensbury.
“Most mid-sized companies do not have a computer techie on staff guarding the entryways,” said O’Brien, who is co-partner with Mark Shaw, founder of StoredTech, a local IT services firm. “The discussion right now is not if you’re going to get attacked, but when.”
O’Brien said that “when a bad actor enters into their computer network, the business must report to the state.” One benefit of cyber insurance is the needed legal counsel to navigate those requirements.
But as cyber criminals “get smarter” at what they do, O’Brien said companies need a policy to cover notifying everyone whose personal data has been stolen, lost revenue, data reparation, and much more.
“Cyber crime is so regular that all businesses need to put money up for insurance, because it impacts not only your business, but your clients, vendors, advertisers, and anyone whose payment information and personal data you may be storing,” he said.
With so many levels of risk, O’Brien said it is not enough to have cyber coverage as an add-on to a general liability policy. There needs to be a stand-alone policy specific to that business.
“Proper protection is like a smoke alarm, he said. “When there’s a fire in the business, everyone hears it and gets out safe.”