National Cyber Security Awareness Month
October has been selected as National Cyber Security Awareness Month. Recently, we have seen in the news foreign entities trying to hack into several United States banks and cripple their networks. This along with a multitude of other incidents of the past years brings our attention to a new liability area for businesses.
Many States including North Carolina, have issued Data Breach Laws requiring businesses to notify their clients if a data breach occurs. Cost of Data Breach notification varies, but the average cost in 2010 was around $214 per customer. If your business has a few thousand customers, this can become a expensive ordeal. Today, several insurance carriers provide coverage for this new type of peril. Coverage's include first party and third party issues. First party coverage helps the business recover from the actual attack and third party coverage protects the clients.
Protecting your client data, is the first defense. Having a security plan for your business is important to the security of the data. Below are a few ideas for helping your business protect your client's personal data.
- Mandate strong passwords, and don't share passwords.
- Install a Firewall.
- Update your anti-virus and anti-spam software daily.
- Limit access to the Internet where appropriate.
- Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or another secure connection.
- Lock up personal information stored in paper files.
These are just a few ways your business can protect itself from potential cyber criminals. For more information on Cyber Liability insurance, please give our office a call.
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