All dental offices, regardless of their size, their specialty or their location need to ask themselves whether they need cyber liability insurance. Dental offices are especially vulnerable to a cyber loss because they deal with personal, financial, and health-related information. Because this information is usually kept for a long period of time, the dental office exposure is amplified. Healthcare data breaches are on the rise, robbing the patient of their privacy, exacerbating medical identity theft, and costing the healthcare industry billions of dollars annually.
What is Cyber Liability insurance?
The generic term “Cyber Liability” insurance addresses risks associated with confidential information or data in its various forms, either digital or paper.
Coverage includes:
- Notification Costs
- Credit monitoring costs (typically $20-$30 per record)
- Defense costs
- Regulatory Fines and penalties
- Crisis coverage/public relations for damaged reputations
Data breaches can happen to anyone and occur frequently. They are typically caused by:
- Lost or stolen laptops, media, back-up tapes and thumb drives
- Improper disposal of personal records
- Computer hacking
- Computer viruses
- Employee misuse
Privacy coverage is generally excluded by office property and liability, business interruption, and dental malpractice insurance policies.
The universe of potential plaintiffs is overwhelming when one considers the number of people and organizations on the internet.
Please call us for more information on cyber liability insurance for your practice. Coverage is expanding as the insurance industry achieves a better understanding of cyber losses.
