Protect your business from the growing threat of cyber attacks. Cyber liability insurance covers data breaches, ransomware attacks, business interruption from cyber events, and the costs of recovery and notification.
Cyber policies provide both first-party coverage (your own losses) and third-party coverage (claims from others affected by your breach). Both are essential for comprehensive protection.
When a cyber incident occurs—breach discovery, ransomware attack, or system compromise—you contact your insurer's incident response hotline immediately. Fast response is critical to minimize damage.
The insurer deploys or approves forensic investigators, legal counsel, and crisis management resources. These pre-vetted experts help contain the breach, understand its scope, and guide your response.
First-party coverage pays for breach investigation, notification costs (often legally required), credit monitoring for affected individuals, and business income lost during system downtime.
Third-party coverage defends against lawsuits from affected customers or partners and covers settlements. It also helps with regulatory investigations and potential fines.
Washington's data breach notification law requires businesses to notify affected Washington residents within 30 days of discovering a breach involving personal information. Cyber insurance helps manage this process.
The Washington Privacy Act and other state regulations create compliance obligations for businesses handling consumer data. Cyber coverage helps address regulatory exposure.
Healthcare providers in Washington must comply with HIPAA requirements for protecting health information. Cyber policies can include HIPAA-specific coverage and response resources.
Washington businesses accepting credit cards must comply with PCI DSS standards. Cyber policies may cover PCI fines and assessments from payment card brands after a breach.
Government contracts in Washington increasingly require vendors to maintain cyber insurance. Coverage limits of $1-5 million are common requirements.
Industry sector—healthcare, financial services, and retail face higher breach exposure
Data volume and sensitivity—more personal data or sensitive data increases risk
Security posture—strong security controls and practices improve terms
Annual revenue—larger businesses typically need higher limits
Prior incidents—previous breaches significantly impact availability and terms
Coverage limits and retention—higher limits and lower retentions affect rates
Regulatory exposure—businesses subject to more regulations face more risk
Get a personalized quote to see exactly what cyber costs for your business.
Get Your QuoteSee how cyber protects Washington businesses in actual claim scenarios.
A Seattle accounting firm is hit by ransomware during tax season. All client files are encrypted, and attackers demand payment. The firm cannot operate until systems are restored.
Cyber coverage pays for forensic investigation, negotiation with attackers, restoration of systems from backups, and business income lost during the 10-day recovery period. Client notification and credit monitoring are covered.
An e-commerce business discovers hackers accessed their customer database containing 50,000 records including names, emails, and payment information. Washington law requires notification.
The policy covers forensic investigation to understand the breach scope, legal guidance on notification requirements, mailing notification letters, providing credit monitoring, and setting up a call center for affected customers.
Criminals impersonate a company executive via email, tricking an employee into wiring $125,000 to a fraudulent account. By the time the fraud is discovered, the money is gone.
Social engineering coverage (if included in the cyber policy) can cover the stolen funds. The policy also covers investigation costs and helps implement controls to prevent future incidents.
Yes. Small businesses are increasingly targeted because they often have weaker security than large enterprises. A data breach or ransomware attack can be devastating for a small business—breach response costs alone average tens of thousands of dollars. If you store any customer personal information, accept credit cards, or rely on computer systems to operate, cyber coverage is important.
First-party coverage pays for your own losses: forensic investigation, data restoration, business interruption, notification costs, and crisis management. Third-party coverage defends against claims from others: lawsuits from customers whose data was breached, regulatory actions, and liability to business partners. Comprehensive cyber policies include both.
Most cyber policies cover ransomware payments as part of cyber extortion coverage, though there may be sublimits. More importantly, policies cover the associated costs: forensic investigation, system restoration, business interruption during recovery, and notification if data was also exfiltrated. Some insurers have ethics policies about paying ransoms and prefer focusing on recovery.
Traditional GL and BOP policies provide minimal or no cyber coverage. Some BOPs include basic data breach response coverage, but it's typically limited (often $50,000 or less) and doesn't cover the full range of cyber exposures. For meaningful protection, you need a dedicated cyber liability policy with appropriate limits for your business.
Requirements vary by insurer and coverage amount, but common requirements include: multi-factor authentication for remote access and email, regular data backups, endpoint protection (antivirus), employee security training, and patching/updating systems. Larger policies may require more robust controls. Insurers are increasingly strict—businesses with poor security may not qualify.
Report suspected incidents immediately—most policies require prompt notice, and some specify timeframes like 72 hours. Early reporting is crucial because cyber insurers provide incident response resources that work best when engaged quickly. Delayed reporting can compromise the investigation and may affect coverage. When in doubt, report.
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