Nationwide has joined forces with Hartford Steam Boiler to offer cyber insurance coverages for small business owners. The comprehensive services and coverages help small businesses respond to a data breach, computer attack or identity theft and get their business, personal identity, and overall reputation back on track.

“When a criminal cyber attack occurs, it’s not just the business at risk, but customers, too. Our goal is to provide the coverage, services and peace of mind small business owners and their customers deserve.”

“Small business owners face big risks, with 55 percent of small businesses in the U.S. experiencing a data breach and 53 percent experiencing multiple data breaches,” said Tony Fenton, Nationwide commercial lines associate vice president, said in a statement (citing results from a Ponemon Institute poll for HSB conducted in March 2013). “When a criminal cyber attack occurs, it’s not just the business at risk, but customers, too. Our goal is to provide the coverage, services and peace of mind small business owners and their customers deserve,” Fenton said

Nationwide’s cyber liability product offers three key benefits for small business owners, including:

• Business restoration and liability protection

CyberOne coverage helps to both restore businesses in the event of a loss and protect against lawsuits. CyberOne protects businesses against damage to electronic data and computer systems from a virus or other computer attacks. The coverage protects a business’s liability to third parties that may have suffered damage due to security weaknesses in the business’s computer system.

• Recovery service and protection

Nationwide’s Data Compromise coverage is designed to help businesses notify and assist their clients and others following a breach of personal identifying information. The plan provides coverage for specialized services such as credit monitoring and identity restoration. It also provides defense and liability coverage to respond to third party actions brought against the insured by individuals affected by the breach. Plans offer coverage limits of up to $1 million.

• Identity Recovery

Identity Recovery combines identity theft insurance with a high-end service component. Nationwide’s coverage includes personalized service from a team of experts dedicated to help restore identities to pre-theft status. Coverage and service are provided for key owners, employees and resident family members of key owners and employees.

Identity Recovery coverage is automatically included when Data Compromise coverage is purchased or can be purchased separately.

In addition to these benefits, Nationwide will provide policyholders access to several risk management tools including a toll-free identity recovery and data breach help line as well as a cyber/data breach risk management web portal. The help line will be manned by experienced professionals who can answer questions and provide useful information and resources to identity theft victims as well as to businesses regarding breach preparedness, help in identifying a breach, or other questions pertaining to breach-related best practices.

The risk management web portal will help customers understand their data information exposures, help businesses plan and be prepared for a cyber attack or data breach, and establish a response plan to manage the costs and minimize the effects of a data breach.

Source: Nationwide