Insureon: Fewer Small Businesses Buying Cyber Liability Insurance since Target's Breach

Insureon warns that media portrayals of breaches give small businesses a false sense of security.

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Jul 22, 2014, 09:00 ET

CHICAGO, July 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Insureon, the nation's leading insurance provider for small businesses, today announced a worrying trend. Since December 19, 2013, when news broke about the Target data breach, businesses outside the information technology sector have been less likely to seek Cyber Liability Insurance.

In the months before the story of Target's data breach broke, nine percent of non-IT insureon applicants requested Cyber coverage. In the months since, only five percent have. While the numbers themselves show that small-business owners aren't aware of the magnitude of the threat data breaches pose, the trend suggests they're being misled by media reports about the nature of hacking events.

"The reality is that small businesses get hacked far more often than big ones," said Ted Devine, CEO of insureon. "But you're not going to turn on the evening news and hear about the florist on the corner getting breached. You're going to hear about Michael's and Neiman Marcus and P. F. Chang's."

Devine added that assuming a business won't be hacked because it's small is like assuming a bully won't steal another kid's lunch money because there's a bank on the corner. "There are small-time hackers, too," said Devine. "And they're going after smaller businesses."

This misperception of data breach exposure has been documented elsewhere, too. Verizon's 2014 DBIR Report notes that, while media reporting "makes quite a splash… from a frequency standpoint, [hacking] largely remains a small-and-medium business issue."

While the trend in small business data breach preparation is largely bleak, there is one bright spot in insureon's data: while small businesses have been less likely to buy Cyber Insurance since the Target breach, they've been more likely to choose higher coverage limits. Before Target, 93 percent chose the minimum policy limit; in the months since, that number has shrunk to 85 percent.

Insureon recommends that small businesses revisit their exposure and their state data breach laws. Florida, for example, just passed a law that fines up to $500,000 for data breaches.

For details on Cyber Liability Insurance for small businesses, visit http://www.insureon.com/products/cyber-liability/.

About insureon

Insureon is the nation's source for small business insurance, offering General Liability, Professional Liability, Cyber Liability, and other products.

Contact: Betsy Gregg, [email protected], 224-595-3323

SOURCE insureon