July 22, 2022
Agency
Commit to an Annual Cyber Safety Review
This is the time of year that many businesses put their affairs in order. Insurance agencies are not much different from every other type of business. At the end of the day, a well-managed business helps improve customer satisfaction and security.
Most insurance agencies make heavy use of computer systems in their day-to-day business. Any failures or breaches in these systems might compromise data and customer privacy. With the correct cyber liability insurance, the agency can compensate customers and make repairs following a cyber event. However, the business’ priority should be to prevent the damage from occurring at all.
Cyber Damage, and How to Prevent It
Data loss and cyber damage comes in many shapes and sizes. It might range from accidental damage to a hard drive, to a hack by cyber thieves. In any of these situations, the impact on your agency might be profound. 
Losses and theft of data could easily impact your agency’s ability to do business. It could also expose the private data of customers that you keep on hand. The company must take steps to prevent losses like these. An annual review of your cyber safety practices can help you better protect data.
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Use IT professionals to monitor your networks for signs of problems. Should damage or a compromise occur, your IT service could immediately start remediation.
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Install strong virus scanners, phishing and spam detectors, and firewalls on your drives. Set up scans to run automatically at regular intervals, even daily. Renew subscriptions as necessary.
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Keep all external drives and cloud systems in good working order. Back up these drives and save data in multiple places. However, remember that every data storage system needs security. Therefore, as you increase storage, add security levels to these systems.
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Teach your employees proper data protection steps. They should know how to protect digital and physical assets using password security, scrutiny and care.
Also take the time, every year, to examine your cyber insurance coverage. Cyber protection can help you protect your own assets in case of damage your data systems. You should have coverage that adequately reflects your data networks.
Remember, data losses can prevent your business from operating. Furthermore, it might trigger action from clients who sustained personal losses as a result of the cyber damage. Cyber liability protection can help you compensate or settle with affected parties. It can also help you cover costs related to repairing broken systems and recovering data. Do not go without this important form of coverage.