The Complex Anatomy Of Cyber Insurance

Cyber liability insurance, often discussed as if there is a general understanding of what it entails, has many variations. There is no “one-size-fits-all blanket policy that can be applied to all types of businesses,” says this post by Dan Burke Senior Vice President and National Cyber Practice Leader at insurance brokerage and consulting firm Woodruff Sawyer. The writer breaks the generic product down into its components and, using a hypothetical ransom attack as an example, he explains how each of them might apply.

The components he identifies are Network Security, Network Business Interruption, Privacy Liability, and Errors and Omissions. The latter, possibly the least obvious to associate with cyber liability, could be invoked for example in a case where a cyber attack has disabled a network and rendered a payment processing company unable to fulfill its contracts. At that point, customers who were unable to take payments might claim lost revenue.

“Before you cut back on coverage under your cyber liability insurance policy to save premium dollars, make sure you understand the inter-connectivity between the different coverage elements and how they apply to a modern cyber attack,” says Burke.