Who needs cyber liability insurance?
Anybody who is operating a medical facility or works independently as a medical professional should be covered with cyber liability insurance. Ransomware attacks are on the increase and healthcare facilities are a favorite target because of the sensitive patient data they store. They will usually pay the ransoms demanded by hackers, to avoid being taken offline and risking the lives of their patients.
Health care and senior living industries can also face huge fines under the HIPAA Act. (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) for not safeguarding medical information. So the costs of a single cyber incident can be catastrophic.
As well as the financial costs of litigation, there are the regulatory defense expenses and the costs associated with mandated notification requirements. Then there is also the time effort and expense involved in defending your company’s reputation.
This is all on top of the need to hire computer forensics experts to determine the extent of a breach and determine any private customer information that may have been compromised.
Aged care facilities are particularly vulnerable, includingadult day care centers, assisted living facilities residential care centers, skilled nursing facilities, nursing care centers, and continuing care retirement communities. This is because patient records are vital to ensure the correct medication and care is applied to each particular patient.
Even other service providers for the elderly and disabled should absolutely be covered by cyber liability insurance.
All medical facilities have records that are vulnerable to cyber attacks, including physical therapy clinics, medical spas, diagnostic imaging and X-Ray centers and hospitals.
How Much Does Cyber Insurance Cost?
The cost of cyber liability insurance varies, depending on your level of risk. Cyber insurance costs have risen faster than any other type of insurance in recent years due to the increased risk of attacks.
A primary care practice with five doctors would typically pay between $2,000 and $8,000 for $1 million to $5 million in coverage. The cost depends largely on how well protected their online systems are and their history of cyber security.
To avoid paying high premiums, take our free cyber risk assessmentand discover how vulnerable your systems are. This a leading industry system that scours the web,detecting your online systems and testing the different ports (or doorways) that an attacker can use to access your data. The system also combs the dark web, searching hackers shared information, to find mentions of your company or employee login information that has been gathered by hackers during their reconnaissance operations.
Once you have completed this assessment, you can take steps to tighten up your security and reduce the chance of paying overly high premiums for your cyber liability insurance.
Every medical facility should be prepared for some kind of cyber attack – from a simple hack to something more serious, like a ransomware attack.
My Insurance agency has done business with Westwood for over 10 years and always found them to be professional...
