IAMU Informer
Follow IAMU!
  • Informer News Feed
  • IAMU Website

Cyber Insurance for Municipalities – What it Covers and why you Need it.

9/14/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Some of the largest ransomware attacks we’ve seen in the news this year impacted municipalities and public entities. In fact, in 2020 over 40% of the global cyberattacks were directed towards municipalities! These attacks can result in data being lost, ransomed, or even stolen. In addition, you can suffer from loss of access to email, telephone systems, and websites as well. There’s no question that municipalities are increasingly targets of cybercriminals, and purchasing comprehensive Cyber Insurance in combination with other proactive defense measures will lessen the likelihood of an attack and can mitigate financial loss and damages should one occur.
 
Why do I need cyber insurance?
While the following list is not exhaustive, it covers the most common attacks from cybercriminals today:

  1. Malware:  Cybercriminals use this type of attack to access financial data, medical records, emails, passwords, etc.
  2. Spyware:  Spyware is used to access your employee’s login information, which can give the cybercriminal access to any data on your servers.
  3. Ransomware:  This is the fastest growing area of attack.  Your files and servers are encrypted and you receive a ransom demand in order to return the encrypted data to you.
  4. Phishing:  We’ve all received these fake emails from someone we know asking us to provide sensitive information or even money.
  5. Hacking:  If you are hacked, you are responsible for any sensitive personal data you maintain on customers which may fall in the hands of the cybercriminals – this can create a huge liability.
  6. Viruses or worms:  These often require extra IT help to find the source and recover lost information.  In addition, viruses will often ruin hardware and software, forcing you to replace damaged equipment.
 
What does cyber insurance cover?
If you experience an attack you could be responsible for financial damage to third parties, fees and fines, forensic costs, legal fees, hardware replacement or even reputation rebuilding. While coverages can vary greatly depending on the policy, below is an outline of the coverages available through CFC Underwriters and exclusively available to IAMU Safety Group members. For additional detail click here.

  1. Third-Party Liability:  This covers the cost of notifying anyone affected by a data breach as well as costs associated with damages or settlements that have to be paid to those affected by a breach. In addition, our CFC Cyber policy includes coverage for media liability associated with alleged defamation or intellectual property rights infringement.
  2. First-Party Costs:  This will cover legal costs associated with a cyber attack including settlements, government fines, or fees. In addition, our comprehensive policy includes coverage for system damage and rectification costs as well as income loss and extra expense associated with an attack.
  3. Cyber Crime and Extortion:  While often not included on every policy, this coverage is standard with the IAMU Safety Group program and covers things like ransom demands, funds transfer fraud due to social engineering or phishing, as well as telephone hacking or customer payment fraud.    
  4. Loss of Reputation:  Sometimes called crisis management or reputational harm, this will cover the cost of repairing damage done to your reputation such as public relation costs and marketing costs associated with recovering from an attack.
 
If you’re concerned with the amount or availability of your existing coverage and would like a quote, please contact:
​
Mark Stearns
Account Executive
Jester Insurance
mstearns@jesterinsurance.com
P. 515-350-7674
C. 515-631-0338
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

      Subscribe To The Informer

      You can subscribe to The Informer by adding the RSS feed to your feed reader. Or, to request to be added to our weekly email blast, provide your information below.  NOTE-you must be an IAMU member (utility, affiliate, or associate) to receive the email blast.
    Submit

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    RSS Feed

Picture

Copyright 2018 Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities