Cyber Attacks and Data Breaches are becoming the norm in today’s business world.
You can scarcely go a week without hearing about another business being hacked and
Cyber Insurance is one of the best ways to protect your Practice.
And these are usually just the businesses big enough to get in the news.
Nevadans rank fifth in the country among those who fell prey to Cyber Criminals in 2021.
In fact, Digital Technology Partners say that:
“Cybercriminals are counting on dental offices to have less stringent security policies in place compared to other healthcare entities.”
Dental Offices tend to have large amounts of patient records, making them an appetizing target for Cybercriminals.
According to the HIPPA Journal,
“In 2021, an average of 1.95 healthcare data breaches of 500 records or more were reported each day.”
With Nevada being one of the highest states where breaches occur and with Dentists being particularly targeted, having Cyber Security on top of mind should be a number 1 priority.
In addition to Cyber Security, Cyber Insurance should also be a big priority.
Most Dental Offices carry General Liability Insurance as well as Malpractice Insurance.
While some General Liability Policies have some cyber-related coverages built in, they are often very restrictive and the limits are insufficient.
Here are some tips to help you make sure your dental practice has the right protection.
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Buy a Stand Alone Cyber Insurance Policy.
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Get High Limits
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Check Your Deductible
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Use an Insurance Company that Specializes in Cyber Insurance
Buy a Stand Alone Cyber Insurance Policy
Most dental offices carry General Liability Insurance as well as Malpractice Insurance.
While some General Liability Policies have some cyber-related coverages built in, they are often very restrictive and the limits are insufficient. They are little more than policy “enhancements” that are more for marketing than actual protection.
Buying a Stand Alone Cyber Insurance Policy for your Dental Office will allow you to customize the coverage and get what you actually need. In the event of a Cyber Attack, you may need one or more of the following services.
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Customer Outreach (notification costs)
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Call Center Support for your patients
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Reputation Management
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Computer Forensics
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Regulatory Expenses
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Extortion or Ransom Payments
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Damage to your Software or Network
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Lost Income
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Data Rebuild
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Electronic Theft of your Financial Assets/ Electronic Fraud
The sum of all of these coverages is only going to be found on a Stand Alone Cyber Insurance Policy.
2. Get High Limits
IBM Security’s Cost of a Data Breach 2022 says that the Average cost of a Data Breach in 2022 is $4.35 million.
This is up 12.7% from 2020.
With this in mind, having your coverage limits set too low can be a recipe for disaster. There is a balance between the cost of the coverage and the limits of coverage you buy.
I certainly don’t recommend going broke to buy Cyber Insurance. Buy as much coverage as you can while still maintaining the profitability of your Practice.
3. Check your Deductible
Deductibles are a part of many insurance policies. They are the “skin in the game” portion of insurance. Deductibles are the portion of the claim that you are responsible for.
The reason I say to check your deductible is that with Cyber Insurance, there are quite a few of what are called Insuring Agreements within the policy itself.
Each Insuring Agreement will have a deductible tied to it.
For example, let's say we have an incident where a hacker gains access to your network and steals the information on 1,000 of your patients.
Your Cyber Insurance Policy would likely activate several Insuring Agreements to respond to this claim. Such as
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Customer Outreach
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Reputation Management
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Computer Forensics
Each one of these Insuring Agreements will have a deductible. Let’s say that the deductible is $2,500. So in this situation, we would be looking at an out-of-pocket expense of $7,500.
Some policies can have as many as 25 Insuring Agreements. If each was activated, your out-of-pocket could be as high as $62,500.
Raising your deductible can lower your premium, but keep in mind that it can very quickly increase your out-of-pocket expense.
4. Use an Insurance Company that Specializes in Cyber Insurance
This recommendation is pretty obvious, but there are some companies that are better than others.
Cyber Insurance is a relatively new type of insurance and each company is going to have different types of coverage.
With that being the case, in order to get the broadest coverage, you will want to get a company that specializes in Cyber Insurance.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Some of these you can approach directly, but others you will need to go through an agent.
These policies are usually highly customizable so with the help of an agent, you can determine what you actually need.
This list of 10 Reasons Why Every Company Needs Cyber Liability Insurance can help you as you are determining what coverage you need.
Feel free to contact us with any specific questions you may have about Cyber Insurance.