Buying Cyber Insurance: Choose Your Vendors

Cyber insurance is a more recent type of insurance but has grown to prominence in the past decade. The reason for this is not far-fetched with the ever increasing cyber-attacks all over the world. It has become expedient for businesses, irrespective of the scale, to buy cyber insurance. While buying cyber insurance, there are quite a number of tips you may want to consider – especially if it your first time.

In today’s post, we will be looking at the importance of selecting your own vendors and legal counsel. Most people just opt for and buy cyber insurance without really knowing the fundamentals of the policy. You should always ensure before purchasing the policy, you let the insurer know you would be picking your vendors and legal team.

If and when you suffer a data breach, the standard cyber insurance policy allows the insurer to provide the vendors and legal team. What this means is that third-party services would be hired to rectify or restore the damage. Sometimes you are responsible for the cost of these third party services. To avoid such misunderstandings, it is best to include it from the onset that you would be using your chosen vendors and legal counsel if you have them already.

Why You Need Insurance Experts

One of the main mistakes people often make when getting insurance is assuming they know what it takes and entails. This has cost them a whole lot in the end. The painful part of it all is that you only get to know of your mistake when you need the insurance the most. For this reason, working with an insurance expert is one of the best decisions you will ever take.

Helps Understands Your Needs

This may seem a bit exaggerated, especially because we all believe no one should know our needs more than us. For this reason, we have individuals who either have to much insurance or are under insured.

Choose Cost Effective Policies

These insurance professionals are quite knowledgeable about the cost of policies. This is because they are in the industry and know what competing companies are offering. An insurance broker usually works for more than one insurance company and can tell which company is offering the best premium rates.

Provide Answers to Questions

If this is your first insurance or you are looking to buy a new insurance policy, there are several questions you would love to ask. These questions will help you get the basic idea behind the policy. There is no better person to ask than an insurance expert.

Help with Policies Annual Reviews

Many people do not realize that some policies are subject to reviews annually. Usually when the reviews favor the insurer, you can be rest assured that you will be notified. If the review will reduce your premium or offer you some form of discount, only professional insurance companies will notify you. For this reason, ti is best to always have an annual review with an insurance expert. 

Cyber Threats Takes a Whole New Level

While this is the best age to be alive in and definitely be doing business, it also is the age of greatest vulnerability. In times pasts, business owners had to worry about physically protecting their business from theft. These days, we hear of cyber threats and cyber security. If you are still in doubt on whether your business needs cyber insurance, you should take a closer look at what is happening in the world today.

Few weeks ago, the world was awoken to the suspected Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee. This doesn’t even take into account the hack of Ukraine’s power plant or the recent email hack of US Democratic candidate, Hilary Clinton. If there is one thing all of the above mentioned reports have in common, is the fact that each one of them had the resources at their disposal to provide their information. Yet, they still fall prey to the menace of cyber threats.

This in no way means you have to rest on your oars of give up entirely since you do not have the resources for your growing business. This is actually a wake up call on why you should take a cyber-insurance policy for your business. Over the years, businesses and governments have come to realize that cyber insurance is the only viable solution to this menace. They are willing to bear the burden and help get your business right back on its feet.

Looking for a Cyber Insurance Company for Your Business

Cyber insurance has become one of the most discussed insurance policies in the business circles. This is as a result of the ever growing cyber threat experienced all over the world. Any business is a target and can be exposed at any moment if appropriate steps are not taking. To get the best cyber insurance company, you have to active take some steps. Here are just a few to start with:

Talk with Friends and Family

Usually this is where everybody should start. Even if you are not close to family or not readily available family member to ask, there has to be a friend or colleague. This makes the referral a little bit closer to home. If someone has a great experience with their insurance company, then they should be able to recommend it. If on the other hand they don’t like the services offered by their insurance company, then that is one company less to deal with or consider.

Create a Detailed List

Consider this as a research or survey and ensure you take down notes and make a list. If possible, include side notes on each company. This will help you know which companies should be on the top pick. Cyber insurance is too important to be gotten in a hurry. Take time out to grade each and every one of these companies.

Select a Company

The purpose of making a list is to properly evaluate the companies and see which meets your requirements. There are certain factors you would need to consider and with them, use to select and eliminate your listed companies.

Auto Insurance: Dealing with Driving Distractions

More often than not, auto crash or collisions can be fatal or severe. Yet, many of us still get carried away when we are behind the wheels. One would expect that with all the awareness of the dangers of allowing distractions while driving, we would have fewer accidents on the road. Here are some common distractions many drivers have to deal with while driving.

Cellphones

In today's world, this is the most common distraction for drivers. There are laws against it but this is one law we mostly enjoy breaking. Texting or talking on the phone when driving distracts us from looking ahead. Many people think they are gifted with the power of multitasking and usually discover too late that they aren't.

Makeup Sessions

This is mostly common for the ladies. No one asked you to leave home late or wake up early or engaged yourself in activities that made you think your car is your alternative beauty salon. All makeup or hair adjustment takes your eyes off the road, no matter how quick you think you may be. Accidents usually occur quickly too, just so you know!

Eating

This is yet another distraction we are all guilty of. If you haven't eaten in your car while you drive, then you probably haven't been driving for long or you don't drive regularly. Eating also creates distractions for you when you drive.

Adjusting Car Gadgets

There's no need limiting it to just the radio as there are many things that can need adjustments in the car these days. GPS and smoking materials are just but a few of those. You have to agree that it reduces your concentration when you attend to these things.

Global Businesses at Risk with Growing Cyber Threats

Most businesses are yet to fully understand the menace of cyber hacks to their business. For some of them, they would only understand its devastating effect after they fall victim to such attacks. Here's a classical example of how cyber-attacks are carried out with great precision.

A malware was sent to a computer in a bank. Once the malware has fully settled and infiltrated the system, hackers were able to locate the administrator's system for video surveillance. This gave them full access to all the happenings in the bank and monitor staffs in charge of servicing funds transfer. It was only a matter of time for this hacker to be able to mimic the activities of staff. Using this same process, hundreds of millions were transferred out of several banks.

This is not some fiction, action movie but a real life event. It always starts with some form of malware - something so insignificant at first. While businesses should be willing to invest more in cyber security, they should also get coverage for loss or damages incurred through cyber insurance. 

Cyber-Attacks Remains the #1 Threat to Australian Businesses

The internet plays a vital role in today's Australian business sphere. Unlike about a decade ago, the government is fully aware and willing to partner with agencies to bring a stop to these business threats. Even as the world experiences these attacks, there is need for a deeper, more result-yielding solution.

The majority of businesses in the continent fall into the small business category. These businesses are usually ill-equipped or lack good information about cyber hacks. Although big businesses are not left out, most of them are taking active measures to fortify their security systems with up-to-date cyber security tools. It is for this reason that insurance companies like Greater National Group have decided to collaborate with the government in ensuring small businesses are better equipped in such a time as this.

Cyberinsurance policies and packages are being designed to cater for the available budget of these businesses. If this type of cushion is not made available, in a decade from now, most of these small business owners would shut down their business. An Australian economy without the financial support of small businesses is one that will crumble upon its own weight.

Is It Time to Buy Cyber Insurance?

Usually this kind of question will be asked by business owners with their business still in infancy. The painful reality is that it is still being asked by few big businesses that are yet to fully understand the effect of a cyber-attack to their business. With each passing year, businesses have move a large percentage, if not all, of their data digitally. This makes all this information open for hacks and theft.

So a question like this would only have a befitting answer that suggests how dangerous it has been to have delayed for this long. Cyber insurance doesn't only just look to protect you in times of data breaches; it also provides solutions and tools to help prevent such attack. Every business in this 21st century should have cyber insurance to help protect their business electronically.

Big corporations have in recent time’s fallen prey to the nefarious activities of cyber hackers. These data breaches have run business damages into billions of dollars. While the world comes together to find a lasting solution to these attacks cyber insurance remains the only viable cushion for businesses to use for protection.

Car Insurance: When You Get Hit By an Uninsured Driver

Usually when car insurance is talked about in cases of accidents, many go with the popular opinion that the victims exchange insurance information. This is done with the hope that the affected insurance company get to pay for the damages. So what happens when the person who hits you is uninsured or underinsured? These are situations that most people don't know how the process would work.

When asked, one of the experts at car insurance in Greater National Group helped give a simple explanation for it. Since we all know the steps to take immediately after an accident, let's just skip to what happens when you discover the person is uninsured or underinsured. The term uninsured or underinsured has different interpretations from one country or state or city to another. If you sustain injuries after a hit from an uninsured driver, your insurance company will pay for your personal damages. If no injury but your car is damaged, you would need to have collision insurance or something similar that covers you in such a situation.

If you do, your insurance company will pay you for all damages and go directly to the uninsured driver to seek reimbursement for the money paid to you. This has nothing to do with you as both parties would settle themselves. If it's an underinsured driver who probably has a policy that covers up to $3000 but you had damages of $7000, your insurance company will pay the additional $4000. Just like in the previous case, they'll go directly and collect the $4000 from the underinsured driver later.

Insurance Company Review

Until 2 years ago, I would consider myself unlucky when it comes to finding the right insurance broker. The last one I had left me hanging and was totally absorbed with working with a larger company. I got introduced to the GNG by a business colleague who has watched me suffer in the hands of insurance brokers for far too long. At first I was skeptical about it all but meeting with their representative for the first time changed my perspective entirely. He was ready to start off from whatever level of understanding I had of business insurance.

So when we had a little issue with my business, the company didn't hesitate to send an adjurer to come take a look at it. They were not only committed to paying for the damage, they readily provided ways to prevent future mishaps. You guys should keep up the good work you are doing. It is good to know there are still insurance brokers with honesty and integrity. 

Why We All Need Life Insurance

So as not to sound over dramatic, let's just say life insurance is one of the bedrocks of good personal finance. The surprising thing about life insurance is that as much as there are innumerable benefits from it, many people treat it with a seemingly lackadaisical attitude. This attitude is often borne out from our inadequate understanding of what it truly entails or a conscious effort to avoid the topic altogether.

The only reason why someone may want to opt out of this type of insurance is probably because they have no dependents to worry about. Life insurance has no benefit for the holder whatsoever but it goes a long way to ensuring that their dependents are well taken care of and do not have financial burdens to worry about.

Inadequate understanding of what life insurance entails is usually because of the misinformation being propagated by some inexperienced insurers. A top insurance expert at Greater National Group once said the misunderstanding comes as a result of people seeing life insurance as an investment instead of a risk management tool. The premium cost for life insurance is largely dependent on the type (Term or Permanent life insurance). There is no simpler way of reiterating the importance of life insurance in today's economy situations.

The Types of Business Insurance Your Business Needs

Businesses face several kinds of risks from the first day, all through its existence, to its last. These risks are no respecter of the size of business. For this reason, business owners have to be equipped with the right insurance policies. Insurance experts at Greater National Group have listed top insurance policies every business ought to have.

Professional Liability Insurance

This type of insurance is industry specific and may differ from one industry to another. This policy protects businesses from claims as a result of negligence or mistakes. The policy is also known as Errors & Omission Insurance.

Product Liability Insurance

This is a must for any business in the manufacturing sector. This insurance protects the business from law suits filed as a result of a damage caused by one of its products. No matter the level of quality tests undertaken, there is always a possibility of having faulty products released to the public.

Property Insurance

The importance of this cannot be overemphasized. Whether the business property is on lease or owned, it's always wise to get it insured. It usually covers things like the building, equipment, furniture, inventory, and all physical assets.

Worker's Compensation Insurance

Since business requires workers, then this is a must for all businesses. The insurance would take care of medical treatment and other worker's benefits.

Other insurances business owners should consider having includes Vehicle insurance, business interruption insurance, Business Owner Policy, and home base business insurance for small businesses.

Life Happens But How Prepared Are You?

Life insurance should be one of the most important insurance every family should have in its armory. Most people try to shy away from life insurance which actually is like shying away from the inevitable. As much as we don't like to talk about it, death happens to us all. Since we cannot escape it, what happens to people you love after you're gone? This is what life insurance hopes to answer.

Having life insurance ensures that your loved ones receive a lump sum of money when you did. This will go a long way to reduce the financial burden on them. While having a life insurance is important, according to insurance experts at Greater National Group, it is certainly not the end of it. You have to keep it updated by reviewing the terms it covers. This process ensures the coverage is sufficient enough in case of an unexpected loss of life.

Basically there are two main types of life insurance: Term insurance and whole-of-life insurance. The second one seems self-explanatory with the name but Term insurance is one that would pay you a lump sum if you die within specified number of years. This type of life insurance would need periodical renewal to stay viable. Whole-of-life insurance offers coverage and protection for a lifetime. Ideally, its premium is more expensive than the Term insurance.

Read it also: How to Reduce Your Vulnerability to Business Theft

Cyber Insurance Review - Greater National Group

Since I started my business in 2007, I have never had any cause to need an insurance pay out. Since the inception of my business, I have had a goof business insurance package with Greater National Group. Sometime last year, my business was among those affected by the wild fire. We almost lost everything and it was a devastating time for my family and business. I remember standing and watching my business go up I'm flames as the fire fighters fight to save whatever they could.

My first gleam of hope came when representatives from the GreaterNational Group came over to the house to discuss my options with me. They went over all the entire process with me, ensuring I understood every bit of it. My premium payments were up to date so I had no issues from my side. I was amazed the way the company took responsibility for every bit of loss. In less than 6 months, my business was up and running again. I am forever grateful to the team of professionals at GNG.

Read it also: Find Insurance That Matches Your Business Size

Tips to Protect Your Business Website from Hacking By Top Cyber Insurance Broker

Cyber-attacks are a major concern for businesses all over the world. A major marketing strategy for businesses is to own a website and while this has innumerable advantages, it also possess a level of vulnerability. Cyber insurance has become the only viable protection for businesses that have been hit with cyber-attacks. Although cyber insurance serves to take on associated risks, the professionals at Greater National Group advise that businesses should also be proactive with preventing such attacks.

Businesses should ensure they are up to date with cyber threats, especially when it affects others in the same industry. With such information, these businesses would be able to know how to better protect itself. It is always smart to update software when require as a delay could expose the company to cyber-attacks. The fact is that updates are quite expensive for software companies, so they do it occasionally or when there's known security vulnerability. So when an update is required, it should be done as quickly as possible.

Getting a very tight network security by installing an effective web application firewall is the first line of defense for any company. Although hackers have been able to break through certain firewall, it's usually as a result of a combination of weaknesses in the network security. Keep admin pages hidden as much as possible. When everything else is done, ensure regular backups just in case of any attacks.

Read Also: Cyber Insurance Brokers Look to Hackers to Help Curb Cyber-Attacks

Cyber Insurance Was Our Only Hope

The truth is that there are many more cyber-attacks than actually documented. Most businesses, in trying to do damage control and protect their reputation, do not report cases of cyber-attacks. My business was put to a halt in summer of 2013 when these cybercriminals hacked into my business firewall. We are an accounting firm with lots of personal data on our clients. It was a sad day for all of us in the company as we struggled to see how we could recover some of our data.

At first we wanted to keep things quiet and just see how far we could protect our reputation but after we spoke to the professionals at Greater National Group, they advised otherwise. They not only assisted in recovering what was left of the data loss but also gave tips on how we could prevent such magnitude in the future. In less than a month, the cyber insurance broker was ready to pay us for damages. In all honesty, if not because the company was protected by a reputable cyber insurance broker, we may not have been able to survive through that data breach storm

Cyber Insurance Tips Small Businesses Should Be Aware Of

Although data breaches have become a global epidemic, small businesses are yet to take quality effective measures to protecting or covering themselves against such risks. While the use of firewalls has prevented some level of cyber hackings, it still doesn’t stand as a total guarantee for data security. This in no way means businesses should stand aloof and watch their data get hacked.

Small businesses should understand that these cyber-attacks are a global phenomenon but there was few ways to keep track of these cyber-attacks trends, usually they occur through software hacks. Usually most of these software manufacturers make available their software to more than one business. A breach in a business using similar software as your business should put yours in alert because it is usually the same principles in hacking.

For most of us, we can identify phishing scams and most random-ware but this should make us complacent. The truth is that these phishing scams are become more well-crafted and specific. They are becoming harder to detect. Employees should be educated on how to avoid falling prey to such random-ware and phishing scams.

Qualities of a Reputed Cyber Insurance Brokers

An insurance broker acts on the behalf of its clients and gives advice in their interests. You can take the assistance of a broker for the business, vehicle, funding, health, life, or personal insurance. He knows all the rules and regulation, benefits, and prices of the various competing insurance policies so as to help you to find the apt coverage at the best price.

Hence, a life insurance broker would act on your behalf to find the most affordable and appropriate life insurance policy option from different companies. There are plenty of Cyber insurance brokers in Australia and thus, choosing the best one is a challenging task.

A reliable Australian Cyber insurance broker should be friendly, honest, and readily share the details of the companies he works with, if you ask him. He should be aware of the life insurance and its related companies. He should show all the favourable options so that you can choose the best one. Hire a well experience broker to avoid the risk of misinformation, and to get the expert advice.  He has to act in the client's best interests prior and then his own benefit. He can be sued and lose the license if at any point, he cheats and misguide the client for his selfish interest. Generally, the professional gets some compensation depending on his agreement with the insurance company. It is suggested to hire a life insurance broker having a good knowledge and experience in this field.

How to Get the Broadest Cyber Insurance Coverage at Competitive Prices

For a business to get the broadest insurance coverage at competitive prices, it is wise to hire a reputed business insurance broker. When a company purchases its insurance coverage through a broker, it is the Insurance Company that will pay him a certain percentage for his work. Those who are looking for an experienced Business insurance broker in Melbourne can choose from an extensive number of professionals. Some of them are employed at a brokerage while others work independently.
 

Browse the internet to get the details of the popular companies equipped with expert Cyber insurance brokers Melbourne. The professional's job is not limited just to give the details of a favourable insurance policy. He has to assess all the requirements of the business, and then provide different options to choose from. He has to ensure that the policies not only fit to a company's needs, but also to the risks that it may face. He has to provide the reasonable premium rates for the best coverage.
 

Insurance brokers act on the behalf of its clients and give the best suggestions on the insurance matters. The experts have all the knowledge related to this industry and its associated companies. They know everything about the clients' business, potential risks, and the appropriate policy to cover those risks. By hiring an experienced Cyber insurance broker Melbourne, you can be ensured of getting the best possible insurance coverage at competitive prices. So, investing in a reputed brokerage firm is a sagacious decision for your business profit.

Why I choose Cyber Insurance

As a IT security professional, I have had the privilege of working in some very good companies. While the job could be demanding, it is usually generally fun. One of the biggest challenges any IT security professional have to face is dealing with high tech cyber-attacks.

When it was time to start my company in June of 2007, among other things, my mind was focused on how well to protect my data from malware, hacks and spyware. Over the past few years, there have been worldwide records of cyber-attacks. Stopping these attacks is what I am legally trained to do but the channels through which they operate are sometimes too enormous to keep track of. I knew at that point that I needed Cyber insurance for my company.

Data breach is something I take seriously, so I set out only to get the best cyber insurance broker I could find. It was fun working with the professionals at Greater National Group as they simplified the entire process of cyber insurance. My company had its first hack sometime in October of last year. Although the damages were not much, GNG was with me all the way. They even went further to offer advice on how to protect my data in case of a future attack. I believe without any doubt that this is what professionalism is all about!