Many small business owners assume cyber attacks are a big-company problem. In practice, smaller businesses are frequent targets, because they hold valuable data, move money electronically and often have fewer security resources.
Signs your business needs cyber coverage
- You store customer, client or patient information
- You accept payments or send wire transfers
- You'd struggle to operate if your email or systems went down for a week
- Your clients or vendors ask about your cybersecurity or require cyber insurance
If any of these apply, a cyber incident could be expensive, and your general liability and property policies generally won't respond.
What cyber insurance typically covers
Breach response
Forensic investigation, legal guidance, customer notification and credit monitoring after a data breach.
Ransomware and extortion
Expert negotiation and response when systems or data are held hostage, subject to the policy's terms.
Business interruption
Lost income and extra expenses while your systems are down, plus the cost to restore data.
Liability and regulatory defense
Claims from customers or partners whose data was exposed, and defense of regulatory investigations, where covered.
Funds-transfer fraud and social engineering
Losses when someone tricks your team into sending money to a fraudster. This is often a separate coverage part with a lower sublimit, so it needs to be selected and sized on purpose.
What carriers will ask you
Most carriers ask about basic security controls before they quote, including multi-factor authentication, backups, endpoint protection and employee training. Missing controls can raise the price or limit coverage, and in some cases a carrier may decline. The good news: these same controls make an incident less likely in the first place.
The details that matter
Cyber policies vary more than almost any other line of coverage. Before you compare prices, compare:
- Sublimits for social engineering and funds-transfer fraud
- Coverage for outages at your vendors (dependent business interruption)
- Waiting periods before business interruption coverage begins
- Whether you must use the carrier's panel of breach response vendors
We compare these terms across carriers and explain the trade-offs in plain English. Learn more about cyber liability, or request a cyber quote.
Frequently asked questions
Does my general liability policy cover cyber attacks?
Generally not. Most general liability and property policies exclude data breaches and cyber events, which is why standalone cyber policies exist.
Is cyber insurance expensive for small businesses?
Pricing depends on your industry, revenue, the data you hold and your security controls. We'll quote it across multiple carriers so you can see real options.
This article is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Coverage depends on the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy issued, and availability varies by state and carrier.