What is Personal Cyber Insurance?

Your household probably includes at least a handful of IoT (Internet of Things) devices, like mobile phones, laptops, digital personal assistants, and automated systems that control lights, thermostat, and security monitoring. Many of these gadgets make your life and home more comfortable, convenient, and safe—or so you might think. All this connected technology in your house may have opened up additional avenues for cybercriminals to breach your home’s Wi-Fi network and gain access to your sensitive personal information, money, and more.

If you or a member of your family is ever targeted by a cybercriminal, having a personal cyber insurance policy through Fred C. Church could help you pay for many of the costs associated with responding and recovering from today’s most common home cyber risks.

What coverage does personal cyber insurance typically provide for a cyberattack?

In a cyberattack, a cybercriminal may target personal computers, mobile phones, gaming systems, and other internet and Bluetooth-connected devices in your home, all with the intent of causing damage. You may initially notice red flags, like files not opening or simply disappearing, passwords unexpectedly not working or being changed without your knowledge, or unknown software appearing and installing on its own. Behind the scenes, what you’re not seeing is a criminal who is determined to disable, destroy, and control your device and may be altering, blocking, deleting, manipulating, or stealing data that is held on it. This assault on your device is likely to cause significant damage, leaving you with the expense of restoring it to its pre-attack condition or replacing it entirely.

If you have a personal cyber insurance policy, though, you may be able to get help covering the costs of hiring a professional to assist you in the following ways.

• Reinstalling damaged software.
• Removing malicious code.
• Reconfiguring your device or system.
• Replacing electronic data that has been lost or corrupted.
• And more…

What coverage does personal cyber insurance typically provide for cyber extortion?

Cyber extortion is a multimillion-dollar criminal industry that shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. Unlike the more traditional identity-theft method of stealing your credit card number or personally identifiable information and using it for economic gain, a cyber extortionist simply threatens you with this action—through ransomware infections, email-based extortion, or distributed denial of service (DDoS) scams—unless you pay up. Victims of this type of cybercrime are often asked to shell out thousands of dollars in bitcoin, gift cards, or other forms of currency to keep their personal information and other private content from being released to the public or to avoid having long-term damage inflicted on their infected device or entire Wi-Fi system.

If you have personal cyber insurance, though, your policy may help you cover the following costs related to a cyber extortion event.

• Crisis management advice on how to respond to the extortionist’s threats.
• An approved payment to the extortionist if it is determined that paying the ransom is the best way to proceed.
• And more…

What coverage does personal cyber insurance typically provide for online fraud?

Online fraud occurs when a cybercriminal tricks someone into sending them money or giving out their personal information through the internet. While we all want to believe we’d recognize this scam when presented with it, these criminals are highly skilled at what they do. From pretending to contact you on behalf of a government institution, like the IRS, to informing you that you’ve won sweepstakes money or that someone in your family needs emergency financial help, the people who commit online fraud can be very convincing. The financial consequences of falling for this crime can be severe and long-lasting. With the information given to them, these criminals might take over your bank and investment accounts, apply for credit cards or unemployment benefits using your name, or sell your personal data on the dark web.

If you have personal cyber insurance, though, your policy may reimburse you for the following expenses related to online fraud.

• Direct financial losses from wire transfer fraud, credit card fraud, gift card scams, phishing attacks, and more.
• Non-recoverable financial account funds.
• Costs of your legal defense and any resulting judgements or settlements, if a third-party sues you as a result of online fraud.
• And more…

What coverage does personal cyber insurance typically provide for a data breach?

When you hear the term “data breach,” you may think of the highly publicized hacks of big-box retailers and multinational corporations in which customer and employee information was accessed by someone without authorization. But this type of online crime is a real threat to anyone using devices that access the internet. Out-of-date software and weak passwords are just a couple of vulnerabilities that invite cybercriminals to attack personal computers and other connected home devices. If a breach of your home network is successful, it’s not just your personally identifiable or sensitive information that may be stolen but also the data of any non-household members that may be stored on the hacked device. It’s typically going to be your financial responsibility to resolve any negative outcomes for third-party victims impacted by this breach.

By having a personal cyber insurance policy in place at the time of the data breach, you may get help covering the following costs.

• Legal advice to determine how to deal with the breach.
• Hiring of a company to investigate the cause and length of the breach.
• Notifying individuals who may have been impacted and setting up a toll-free help line and credit monitoring service for them.
• Identity restoration case management services for any identity theft victims resulting from the breach.
• Legal defense, and any resulting judgements or settlements, if a third party sues you as a result of a cyberdata breach.
• And more…

What coverage does personal cyber insurance typically provide for cyberbullying?

While digital devices are beneficial in so many ways, one of the darker uses of cell phones, computers, and tablets is cyberbullying. Unlike old-school playground bullies, cyberbullies can send, post, and share negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else around the clock, using text, email, social media, online gaming, and more. Not only is cyberbullying relentless and persistent in nature, but the resulting content may create a permanent public record accessible to schools, employers, clubs, and others that can damage the victim’s online reputation, both today and for the long-term. This type of crime often takes a significant toll on its victims, sometimes leading to serious academic, behavioral, and psychological issues.

If you have personal cyber insurance, your policy may help with the following costs related to recovering from the consequences of a cyberbullying event.

• Professional counseling services.
• Temporary private tutoring.
• Enrollment expenses, if relocation to a similar, alternate school is necessary.
• Purchase of mobile applications, social monitoring software, and web-based products to prevent further cyberbullying events.
• Legal expenses, including those related to the removal of online content associated with the cyberbullying event.
• Hiring of public relations consultants to assist with reputation management.
• Investigation by a digital forensic firm.
• And more…