WHAT IS YOUR CYBER EXPOSURE?

When you think about what usually causes a business interruption, natural disasters such as fires, earthquakes and floods probably come to mind first. These events can physically damage your property and equipment, making your workspace unusable for a time. While natural disasters are still the main reason for an interruption, another cause is quickly moving up the ranks: cyber attacks. As businesses continue to rely on computers and digital storage of essential data, cyber attacks will continue to be a potential exposure.

A common saying in the cyber security world is, “It’s not if you’ll be a victim of a data breach, but when.” How can you check that your business has minimal exposure? The below Cyber Risk Exposure Scorecard indicates your exposure levels.

Cyber Risk Exposure Scorecard

Remember traditional commercial general liability (CGL) policies will not cover business interruption, liability losses or criminal breaches due to a cyber event. Luckily, cyber liability coverages can fill that void.

Contact The Shropshire Agency today so we can help protect your business from the financial impact of a cyber breach.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOME FROM WATER DAMAGE

Water damage from leaking appliances, such as a hot water heater, is one of the most common insurance claims. The water damage can damage multiple rooms in your home creating a huge mess and high dollar claim which can then lead to higher insurance premiums. Thankfully, there is a simple solution that could save you time and thousands of dollars in unexpected costs.

By installing water sensors near common water sources (i.e.: dishwasher, sinks, hot water tank) in your house can be a big money saver in the long run.

A water sensor is a self detecting alarm that alerts you when there is a water leak. Many home security systems are also connected to these alarms being able to alert you via text when you are away. Another bonus is that some insurance carriers give discounts for installing water sensors.

Do you already have water sensor installed? Call us so we can make sure you are getting the best coverage and price for you

EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS A CYBER INSURANCE POLICY

EVERY business needs a Cyber Insurance Policy —- Hiring IT company support, having virus protection software, firewalls, and multi-factor authentication are all excellent strategies in preventing a cyber breach.  However, none can guarantee 100% protection.

 

The landscape of business exposure has changed dramatically in the last few years and unfortunately, we can’t seem to escape these words (hacking, phishing, cyber threat, and cyber-attack). You might think that cybercriminals are too busy targeting big corporations but you are wrong.   Over 43% of cyberattacks target small businesses.    Are you up to date on how these words affect you and your business?  Don’t be caught off guard -Schedule an appointment with Shropshire today, we’ll evaluate your risk and guide you in the management of your exposures to cybercrimes.

FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO LOOK FOR ON A CYBER POLICY

Cyber Crimes, Cyber Attack are terms we hear every day and unfortunately in today’s world EVERY business needs a Cyber Insurance Policy, yes that includes Your business —- Hiring IT company support, having virus protection software, firewalls, and multi-factor authentication are all excellent strategies in preventing a cyber breach.  However, none can guarantee 100% protection.

The landscape of business exposure has changed dramatically in the last few years and unfortunately, we can’t seem to escape these words (hacking, phishing, cyber threat, and cyber-attack). There are so many new terminologies when it comes to cybercrimes, thus leaving you without a clear understanding of these new exposures and the risk they bring to your business. Something that might come as a surprise to you, is that no cyber policy is the same.  There is no standard form policy regarding cyber.  Here are five areas of coverage that you need to look for on any cyber policy:

  • Breach Cost
  • Business Interruption
  • Loss of income
  • Cyber Liability
  • Website Liability

Are you up to date on how these words affect you and your business?  Don’t be caught off guard. Our agency has a new 5-week series called

5 Misconceptions About Cyber Insurance. The topics covered will include several top questions we receive from clients regarding cyber insurance.

Schedule an appointment with Shropshire today, we’ll evaluate your risk and guide you in the management of your exposures to cybercrimes.

ARE YOU SURE YOU HAVE CYBER COVERAGE?

Cyber crimes and breaches are relatively new exposures to commercial insurance buyers.  Unfortunately, for the insurance buyer, these terms and coverages are so new, that most business owners do not understand the exposures and the various coverages that are needed to protect their business.  It is almost impossible to know all the ends and outs without an insurance professional.

Understanding cyber exposures and coverage can be difficult.  Many insurance salespeople themselves do not understand the terminology and coverages. Some buyers are ending up with a coverage that does not cover much or has very little coverage.  One coverage we often see missing is cybercrime. Sounds funny but most cyber coverage you see on a basic policy does not cover Ransomware and Phishing attacks.  These two attacks are often the most predominant cyber-attacks hitting businesses.

Are you up to date on how these words affect you and your business?  Don’t be caught off guard. Our agency has a new 5-week series called 5 Misconceptions About Cyber Insurance. The topics covered include several top questions we receive from clients regarding cyber insurance.

EVERY business needs a Cyber Insurance Policy, yes that includes Your business —- Hiring IT company support, having virus protection software, firewalls, and multi-factor authentication are all excellent strategies in preventing a cyber breach.  However, none can guarantee 100% protection.

Schedule an appointment with Shropshire today, we’ll evaluate your risk and guide you in the management of your exposures to cybercrimes.

DISASTER PLANNING FOR BUSINESSES PART 1

HAVE A WRITTEN PLAN

Every business needs a written disaster plan. This plan must be unique to your business, your facility and your employees. The plan must address a variety of potential disasters such as but not limited to:

  • Fire
  • Tornado
  • Loss of Utilities
  • Loss of a Key Employee
  • Active Shooter/Workplace Violence
  • Loss of a Key Vendor or Supplier
  • Other situations that are particular to your business. We will help you uncover these.

The plan should go beyond just the identification of the potential threats to a business. It should address, in detail, the response the business and employees will take should the situation occurs.

HAVE A DISASTER PLANNING TEAM

Your team needs input and participation from all levels of the organization from upper management to the facilities staff. One of the biggest mistake an organization can make is to have only management involved in the formulation of a disaster plan. A diversified employee team will do a better job in creating an effective disaster plan that actually works and will create better “buy in” throughout the organization.

TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN

Continually train your supervisors and employees. Success will depend on the readiness of your organization to response adequately to threats. Once training or “test runs” are completed, obtain feedback from employees and supervisor, find out what worked and what didn’t.

REGULAR REVIEW OF PLAN

Developing a plan and putting on the shelf will not cut it. Your disaster plan is a living document. It needs to be constantly updated as your company’s operations change and as the threats change. Ten years ago, the thought of having “active shooter” training seemed excessive, now it should be required.

REVIEW INSURANCE

Ultimately, insurance is really just a funding mechanism for responding to disasters, whether it is a fire, tornado, violent act, a liability claim or a car accident. It all boils down to the question, who pays for the damages and the expenses that are incurred. Does the business pay for it or is the risk transferred to an insurance policy. It is important to note that a good insurance program can offer funding that helps pay for some elements of a disaster plan.

3 TIPS FOR PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT THE WORK PLACE

Sexual harassment allegations in Hollywood continue to drive the media headlines. However, this is not a new phenomenon. Sexual Harassment prevention is and should be a priority for any business, school or church.

We recommend 3 Steps in making sure your organization is taking steps to prevent sexual harassment from occurring in your work place.

STEP 1. REVIEW YOUR CURRENT INTERNAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Every business needs to have an anti-harassment statement. This statement is usually found in the Employee Manual or may be a separate form. It defines what sexual harassment is and gives information to employees on how to report such allegations and the steps the business will take to investigate the allegation. Most importantly, it states that sexual harassment will not be tolerated.

STEP 2. CONTINUAL SUPERVISOR OR DEPARTMENT HEAD TRAINING

Supervisors are your front-line defense in preventing sexual abuse claims. Supervisors need to be trained regularly on how to identify potential problems and how to properly respond should an allegation be made. The response is crucial in these situations and if handled inappropriately can be costly to the business.

STEP 3. EVALUATE YOUR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES LIABILITY POLICY (COVERAGE)

We recommend that every business has employment practices coverage. This coverage is either added to a package policy (you would see a separate limit for employment practices liability) or it will be a stand-alone policy.

Regardless, this coverage is not written on a standardized form, therefore each company’s version of this coverage could be different. It is extremely important to evaluate this coverage with an insurance professional to make sure your policy will respond to an allegation appropriately.

Preventing sexual harassment in the workplace requires a proactive mindset from management. Our agency can help your business, church or school maintain a strong anti-harassment environment.

Also, The Shropshire Agency has many tools that can help you regarding, but not limited to:

  • Reviewing your internal procedures
  • Supervisor training
  • Evaluation of employment practices liability coverage.

Call us today at 806.763.7311 so we can get started.

PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS

Unfortunately, we are continuing to see more and more high-profile cases of sexual harassment in today’s news. Many of these cases are drawing attention due to the harassment taking place in the entertainment and media industries as well as politicians.

As bad as many of these cases are, it is a reminder to all businesses and institutions of their responsibility to denounce sexual harassment in their workplaces, enforce the policies and procedures that are already in place when a situation happens, and to review those policies frequently with employees.

A report from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) website highlight’s five core principles that have proven effective in stopping harassment from occurring in the workplace.

5 CORE PRINCIPLES TO PREVENT SEXUAL HARASSMENT

COMMITTED AND ENGAGED LEADERSHIP

  • Total commitment of management
  • Thorough training of supervisors

CONSISTENT AND DEMONSTRATED ACCOUNTABILITY

  • From Top to Bottom
  • No “special rules”

STRONG AND COMPREHENSIVE HARASSMENT POLICIES

  • Easy to understand
  • Applies to EVERYONE

TRUSTED AND ACCESSIBLE COMPLAINT PROCEDURES

  • Who to tell
  • What to do
  • Investigation procedures

REGULAR, INTERACTIVE TRAINING TAILORED TO THE AUDIENCE AND ORGANIZATION

  • Train, train, train
  • Tailored to your workplace

Being proactive is the most constructive approach for any business to prevent sexual harassment. Denying and ignoring this issue is not a good idea. Maybe now is a good time to review your current policies and procedures. If so, give us a call and we will be glad to assist your company.

If your company does not have an Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) policy, we can help get you coverage, if you do have an EPLI policy, let’s sit down and review the policy. EPLI policies are NOT standard policies, in that each one can cover or exclude different exposures.

Let’s start working together today, call us at 806.763.7311 to schedule an onsite consultation.

To view link to entire EEOC article- https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/promising-practices.cfm

Check out our Business Insurance page to learn about important coverage for your Business.

PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS AGAINST RANSOMWARE ATTACKS

Recently, The FBI published an article to help all for and not-for-profit businesses protect themselves against Ransomware attacks.

These attacks are occurring more frequently and they are no longer just directed towards the larger corporations. School, Churches and Small Businesses are receiving much attention from these criminals. The attacks are becoming more sophisticated and harder to prevent.

WHAT EXACTLY IS RANSOMWARE ATTACKS?

Ransomware attacks are resonated with a malicious email. A person will open an email, click an attachment, and that sets off a chain of events that are disastrous. The opened attachment releases an “infected program” that raids the computer’s data, encrypts it and makes it impossible for the owner to view their own data.

At the end of the process you will receive notification from the criminal that they now have possession of your data and if you want it back, you will have to pay for it.

HOW CAN I PREVENT A RANSOMWARE ATTACK?

Many experts say it’s not “if” you are going to be attacked, but “when.” So now is the perfect time to put measures in place on how to prevent an attack and how to respond should an attack occurs. These measures should include corporate policies and procedures regarding computer usage and emails along with computer hardware and firewall upgrades.

HOW CAN I FINANCIALLY PROTECT MY BUSINESS FROM A RANSOMWARE ATTACK?

All businesses should consider purchasing a Cyber Liability policy. These policies are not standardized forms in that each policy can provide different types of coverage so it is vitally important to have an agent who understands the coverage and can help you choose the best policy for your company.

WHO CAN HELP OUR ORGANIZATION GET PREPARED?

We can! The Shropshire Agency can provide your business with assessment tools to help you determine your level of risk of a Ransomware Attack. We can also help you establish internal controls to reduce the risk of ever having a claim. Finally, if you decide to pursue a Cyber Liability policy, we can help find the best policy for your company.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call us at 806.763.7311

To read the entire article from the FBI, you can go to https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/cyber

OUR AGENCY CAN HELP YOUR Business OR Church WITH ALL OF ITS INSURANCE NEEDS.

DON’T FORGET, WE ALSO PROVIDE Homeowners AND Auto INSURANCE FOR FAMILIES!