You don’t want hackers or criminals to steal important data on your company’s computers. If this occurs, it poses threats not only to the business, but also to your customers. These accidents might put clients at risk of identity theft. You might wonder why this is the case? What makes identity theft a side effect of cyber breaches? 
Your business is a public entity, and it will handle a lot more information than just its own. Therefore, customers stand to lose out in case of cyber breaches. That puts you at a liability risk for which you might need specialized insurance.
Cyber Liability Threats in Businesses
In most business transactions, you will likely obtain a degree of sensitive, private customer information. Sometimes, you’ll collect things like:
- Birth dates
- Social security numbers
- Bank account information
- Tax information
- Even if you simply scan an individual’s credit card, that electronic number can link to bank accounts and other private information. So, should someone steal that number alone, they might be able to get access to much more sensitive information.
Like most businesses, you’ll probably store a lot of that information on a computer system. You will want to put various security systems in place to safeguard this information. Yet, despite advances in security, thieves continue to invent ways to dig into systems. When they do so, they might steal this private information. Even the latest technology is not foolproof in preventing data theft.
If a thief gets into your system, they might be able to make victims out of your customers. The thief could use their private information to essentially commit identity theft.
That could cause significant personal and financial losses for the victims. Damaged credit, fraud and more could prove devastating to people who don’t deserve to experience these losses.
Fixing the Problem
If data theft poses risks to your customers, you have a duty to help them protect themselves. Indeed, many states have laws that require businesses to notify and assist customers in these accidents.
You might have assistance available if you have a cyber liability insurance policy. This coverage pertains to data damage in businesses that puts others at risk. With this coverage, you might be able to help the customers pay for identity monitoring. It can also cover other services that could better protect them from ongoing harm.
Don’t hesitate to get cyber liability insurance for your business. Even if you only have a small data operation, you can enjoy this coverage.