The Expert Podcast

Here are some real-world examples of what's going on with cyber liability claims—not just policies but claims. According to Acuity Insurance, there's an increased need for insurance among individuals and businesses between June 21 and June 22. One-year claims on commercial policies spiked 50 percent. Even on personal lines, it spiked 90 percent. That's a big deal.

Part of the reason is because, as we know, businesses are more connected than ever. We're not going off the grid; everybody's going more and more into electronic virtual data, even in the cloud, which puts everybody at a greater risk of cyber claims. Remember, cyber attacks aren't covered under standard homeowner or business insurance policies. If you want to get that coverage, you need to add it as an endorsement to your policy or a standalone cyber insurance policy.

And there's nobody immune from cyberattacks. Individuals and businesses are both at risk from a cyberattack. Sometimes it's a hacking event; sometimes it's a ransomware event. Now, you're seeing more data exfiltration, where hackers are going in, extracting all of your data from your computer, from your Google Drive, or from your server, and then deleting it, wiping off your computer, so the only people in possession of your records are the hackers.

And they're either going to make you pay money to get it, or maybe they don't even care about getting you to pay money; they might be able to sell it for more on the private market. If you're a business, they can sell it to competitors. Those are some real numbers coming from the cyber insurance industry that might give you an opportunity to look at your policies.

Get with a good agent or broker, or your own insurance agent, and ask them what type of coverage might be good to add to make sure that your cyber protection is at least to the level that you want because you have fire insurance, you have liability insurance, and you're already protected against some risk. If this risk is increasing, you want to make sure that your coverage and your risk profile match it accordingly.