Staying Safe Online

So you’re at your practice and its close to 5 pm, closing time and you decide to send an email to a patient about insurance documents that should have been filed but were never completed.  You hit the send button and head home and think everything is ‘just fine’.  To your surprise you see that your message has an error and to your horror you see that after further investigating your computer screen is locked, seconds later you receive a phone call from the patient you were just emailing.  She is asking why her computer was frozen after she opened your email.  Welcome to the world of cyber liability, you are now in for a wild ride as all the data containing the patients sensitive data is now stolen and accessible to millions of hackers online.  What to do?

Lets Talk Cyber

First, lets back track and talk about cyber liability.  Across industry lines, cyberattacks have surged in frequency and sophistication, resulting in a rise in cyber losses. In these market conditions, we predict that most policyholders will experience higher cyber liability insurance rates in 2021. Insureds may also encounter coverage restrictions or exclusions for losses stemming from specific types of cyber incidents, while still having more generous coverage terms for other exposures. Policyholders who operate in industries with greater cyber exposures may experience more severe rate increases.

What You Need To DO Is get protected And Become Familiar With The Following Realities:

Businesses need cyber insurance

In the midst of growing cyber risks, most standard property and liability policies have begun implementing exclusions for cyber exposures to avoid unexpected losses. As such, it’s critical for organizations that don’t already have one to seriously consider securing a standalone cyber liability policy.

Remote work exposures

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many organizations to have their staff work from home for the first time including healthcare businesses. Unfortunately, these telework arrangements led to a rise in cyberattacks, as many cybercriminals have targeted remote employees in various phishing incidents.

Ransomware concerns

Ransomware is used by cybercriminals to compromise a device and demand a large payment be made before restoring the technology—as well as any data stored on it—for the victim. The number of ransomware attacks has spiked in the past few years. In response, some insurance carriers have revised coverage conditions related to ransomware incidents.

 Regulatory ramifications

A multitude of both international and domestic jurisdictions have recently debuted new data protection laws aimed at increasing responsibilities and compliance considerations for organizations that handle sensitive data. Looking ahead, more and more states are expected to pass similar legislation—increasing employers’ regulatory exposures in the realm of data protection.

Fallout from SolarWinds

In 2020, the U.S. government revealed that hackers infiltrated the company SolarWinds’ network monitoring platform via malware before using that platform to access sensitive data from several government departments and private organizations. The fallout from this attack has motivated businesses, the insurance industry and government entities to take a closer look at their supply chain cybersecurity risks.

So What Else?

TIPS FOR YOUR PHSYICAL THERAPY BUSINESS

• Work with your insurance professionals to understand the types of cyber coverage available and secure a policy that fits your needs.

• Utilize security services offered by insurance carriers and third-party vendors to strengthen your cybersecurity measures.

• Focus on employee training to prevent cybercrime from affecting your operations.