Insurance agents take care of a lot of information. A lot of it is quite sensitive, and private. That belonging to customers is doubly important, and you must safeguard their security. Data management means organization, and security practices. With the right care, you can almost guarantee record security. Nevertheless, you should prepare for any accident. That means carrying cyber liability insurance. Still, think long and hard about the safety steps you should take to prevent data losses in the first place.

With the right care, you can keep data secure. Your cyber insurance can come in handy whenever you can’t prevent losses, nonetheless.

Data Safety in the Network Age

The smart insurance agent has to manage client data. In most cases this means keeping your information on a computer network. Different sources can provide these storage options.

• Disk storage keeps the data on a hard drive. The drive might exist on your own machine, or on an external hard drive. External drives come separate from the computer, but can contain most, if not all, the information on your machine.
• Many agencies now make use of cloud networks. These are essentially online drives. You access them through an internet connection. They often allow more space for storing and sharing that data.

While each agency can store data as it chooses, both cloud and network storage have safety risks. Data losses, cyber theft, viruses and more could destroy critical information. Not only that, hackers and other bad actors could gain access to private information. That could lead to threats of identity and financial theft, not only for the agency, but also for clients.

Cyber liability insurance can help agencies that experience these losses. It can help the agency recover data, and take legal action against cyber thieves. Furthermore, it might provide vital assistance to clients affected by the losses.

Managing Network Security

Regardless of how you store your data, you must protect it.

• Only allow qualified access to private information. Require password security and verification for both agents and clients accessing data.
• Install, and regularly update, cyber network protection like anti-virus, hack and phishing deterrents.
• Back up and save data regularly. It’s often a good idea to save information in multiple places. However, apply data security apparatuses to all networks.
• Train agents in the proper ways to safeguard data. Ensure that all data reorganization follows secure protocols.

Should a data loss, even a small one, occur, don’t hesitate to contact your cyber liability insurance agent. They can help you determine if the event has coverage, and help you take remedial action.

Protecting client data takes more than good habits — it takes the right coverage to fall back on when something slips through the cracks. To find out how cyber liability insurance can support your agency's data security practices, reach out to Waymon Lynch & Associates at (301) 927-6070 4424 — their team can help you build a policy suited to your needs.