How to Prevent Cybercrime in New Jersey Businesses

In today’s world, virtually every business owner should be concerned with protecting themselves and their business from cybercrime. Almost every business uses computers for at least some basic operations, and with just as much as an Internet connection, they’re vulnerable to cyberattacks. That’s why it’s so important for New Jersey businesses to equip themselves with the right protection, meaning a good cyber liability insurance policy.

With so much sensitive data being stored virtually these days, it’s more important ever to take action steps to protect your business from cybercrimes. Working with a New Jersey independent insurance agent is the best way to get set up with the right cyber liability coverage for your business. Take the following action steps into consideration to start protecting your business today.

Steps to Preventing Cybercrimes in Your New Jersey Business

Though cybercrimes continue to cause businesses tons of stress, frustration, and not to mention cash, they don’t have to happen to your business. Fortunately, there are several steps business owners can take to protect their business from attack by cybercriminals, and increase their sense of security.

Take the following steps to prevent cybercrimes in your business:

• Update your software regularly: Though the seemingly constant notifications to update your software may be annoying, they really are trying to protect you. The longer a particular software has been out, the longer hackers have had to figure out a way to infiltrate the system’s defenses. Software updates contain patches to fix any discovered holes in security, so it’s important to stay current.
• Use spam filters: No one likes having to delete tons of electronic junk mail, but spam filters serve a much more important purpose than just sparing you this monotonous task. Good spam filters significantly cut down your chances of accidentally opening phishing emails. Phishing emails appear to be sent from a legit company, but really come from cybercriminals requesting sensitive data, like company passwords.
• Use strong passwords: While it’s tempting to use simple passwords that are easier to remember (like your cat’s name, for example), you can seriously reduce your risk of cyberattacks by choosing stronger passwords. The longer, the better. Try for a password that’s at least 10 characters long and contains a combo of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
• Make sure your connection is encrypted: Encryption is basically the process of scrambling sensitive data into code, so it’s no longer useful to cybercriminals. Anytime a public Wi-Fi network is used, information passes through unencrypted and is vulnerable to being stolen. Through the use of a virtual private network (VPN), your business’s sensitive data will be secure. If a hacker does break in, they’ll only find the encrypted code.
• Equip your business with the proper coverage: No matter how many action steps you take to keep your business safe, unfortunately you’ll never be 100% guarded against cyberattacks. Equipping your business with the right New Jersey cyber liability insurance policy is the best way to protect yourself from liabilities and other costs related to harm caused by cybercriminals.

The more dedication you put into protecting your business against cyberattacks before they happen, the greater your sense of security and peace of mind will be all around.

What Is New Jersey Cyber Liability Insurance?

Cyber liability insurance is designed to protect businesses from the harm cyberattacks can cause them. In the event your business’s system is compromised, sensitive data may be stolen and possibly sold to other third parties. This can lead to ugly (and costly) lawsuits, not to mention lost revenue while your business’s operations are slowed or shut down following an attack. Cyber liability coverage is absolutely crucial for most business owners today.

What Does New Jersey Cyber Liability Insurance Cover?

For starters, cyber liability insurance protects businesses that store sensitive information or data electronically, make any kind of transactions through the use of the Internet, and many other scenarios involving computers. However, there are a handful of different coverages offered by cyber liability insurance.

New Jersey cyber liability policies may provide a combination of the following types of coverage:

• Loss of income: In the event your business’s operations are suspended or limited due to data breach or other cyberattack issues and your business suffers a hit in profits because of it, cyber liability coverage can help replace lost revenue.
• Costs due to damaged reputation: When news of cyber breaches leaks to consumers, businesses almost always take a hard hit, at least for a while. Cyber liability insurance may help provide public relations protections for your business to help keep the media as quiet as possible.
• Legal expenses: Should your business end up with a lawsuit if customers sue you after their personal information gets stolen, or even if a bank sues you for having to cancel their customers’ stolen credit card information, coverage can pay for things like attorney, court, and settlement fees.
• Hired professionals: Often businesses will have to bring in professional programmers or other computer experts to help them repair the damage to their computer systems, including removing malware and patching up other holes in security.

Depending on which insurance company you go through, you may be offered different coverage options to pick and choose from since cyber liability policies aren’t standard across the board. Cyber liability policies are generally so flexible you can choose your coverage limits and deductible amount as well.

What Your Business Can Start Doing Today to Prevent Cybercrime

The efforts required to protect your business from cybercrime may seem overwhelming, but there are a handful of easy steps you can start taking today to protect it. These simple action steps don’t require any additional programs or money spent up front to get started, so don’t hesitate to put them in motion.

• Back up your data: In the event of a cyberattack, criminals could steal important data that you may not be able to fully recover again. Back up important data like personal information and client records, financial records, and business plans ASAP, and make sure to routinely back them up going forward. Performing routine backups, at least quarterly, is recommended.
• Turn on automatic updates: Now that you know how important it is to keep your software up to date, you won’t want to miss a beat. Your computer can save you the hassle of having to remember to perform software updates yourself as long as you turn on the option to receive automatic updates.
• Change your passwords: It’s a good idea to update your passwords often. So go ahead and upgrade all existing passwords your business uses to meet the requirements of strong, secure passwords ASAP.
• Educate your staff: If your staff uses your company network without being monitored, it’s important to educate them on proper safety precautions. Train staff to practice secure measures at all times, including using strong passwords and knowing how to spot phishing emails.
• Study cybercrime trends: Another great line of defense against cybercrime is to stay on a good offense. Research current cybercrime trends to be sure that your business is well-protected at all times. If necessary, hire professionals to update your network’s security. You may even choose to increase your cyber liability coverage.

Cybercrimes can cost businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars or even force them to temporarily close down. Actively preventing issues before they arise is your best chance at maintaining smooth operations.

Why Work with a New Jersey Independent Insurance Agent?

In order to get the protection you need and deserve, you’ll want to work with a trusted expert. And who could be better for the job than a local agent who shares your area code? Independent insurance agents act as your own personal insurance shoppers, offering you tons more options than one-policy companies. With just one call, they’ll hook you up with multiple quotes.

New Jersey independent insurance agents are armed with knowledge on what coverage is needed in your area, and they’ll get you set up with just enough of it — not too little, not too much. They’ll handle all the heavy lifting so you can rest assured you’ll be set up with the right coverage at the right price.

They’re not just there at the beginning either. If disaster strikes, your New Jersey agent will be there to help walk you through the claims process and make sure you’re getting the benefits you're entitled to. Now that’s thinking ahead.