No Business Immune from a Cyber Attack

No matter your business size, type, or industry, if you use internet technology, you’re at risk of a crippling cyberattack. It’s no secret that cybercrimes are increasing, both in number and severity.  According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2021 annual report, more than 840,000 complaints were recorded in 2021, with potential losses exceeding $6.9 billion.

Historically, the ag industry has not been a notable target for cybercrime. However, advances in ag-related technology have led to increased cyberattacks as the sector moves to adopt more smart technology and the internet of things (IoT). With ransomware attacks increasing in the agribusiness sector, what can you do to protect your operation?

First of all, make sure you have cyber coverage. It’s also crucial that you understand the coverage and how it works. Together with your insurance advisor, discuss:

• First-party or third-party coverage, or both – it’s often a best practice to ensure your cyber policies contain both.
• Limit adequacy – analyzing the amount of data you store, your exposure risk, and cyber security practices are necessary to determine an adequate policy limit.
• Bricking coverage – if malware is downloaded onto a work computer, bricking coverage covers the cost to replace the machine.
• Media coverage – from intellectual property to breach response, different media policies can extend coverage or help with the response costs.
• Cyber extortion – because an extortion threat puts enormous pressure on an organization, extortion coverage can be valuable for mitigating losses from growing ransomware attacks.

In addition to the coverages themselves, insurers often provide additional benefits such as pre-breach and risk management training, security consulting, breach investigation, or help with public relations. Take the time to understand what programs are offered, and then take advantage of them.

Committing to regular employee education and practice is one of the best things you can do to prevent a cyberattack. But if your business does become the victim of a cyberattack, contact your insurance advisor immediately. Your advisor can help:

• Connect you with a breach coach
• File a claim
• Advise you on what authorities to contact
• Get you back up and running

Whether you’re just now considering cyber coverage or your current policies are about to renew, get started early. Demand for cyber coverage is surging. And carriers are now requiring that insureds implement enhanced security controls, such as multi-factor authentication, offsite backups, mobile device encryption, and more, before they will provide coverage.

Technology plays a key role in every business – making cyber coverage a must-have. AssuredPartners agribusiness team is dedicated to helping clients secure coverage for this growing risk. Contact a member of our team to learn more.