Has your company fully settled into remote working arrangements or decided to start opening up offices? Either way, you should carefully analyze your existing coverages and the market's emerging insurance offerings. 

The COVID pandemic single-handedly created the most dynamic shift of the century for companies in New York and across the globe. The pandemic environment has forced businesses to rethink workplace design and adopt new technologies for everyday solutions. The resulting heavy reliance on technology poses an entirely new level of cyber security risks. As a result, companies are now focusing more on cyber insurance and professional liability coverages.

When it comes to life, business, and insurance, knowledge is power. The five pointers listed in this article will help you confidently assess your company's cyber risk management strategies. So, it's time to welcome Industry 4.0 (and hopefully bid adieu to COVID-19). 

1) Check if your existing insurance policies address cyber risks. The use of remote logins, video connectivity, and technologies that allow us to do business on personal devices has transformed the workplace. But it's also made insurers nervous about the cyber risks that are now emerging. 

Stand-alone professional liability policies and cyber insurance (with a technology E&O) may help protect your business against several types of third-party liability charges arising from data breaches. However, these risks aren't necessarily new, even if they've increased. For example, many existing cyber insurance policies already cover third-party expenses like network security incidents, including ransomware demands, recovery and response fees, cyber security liability, and privacy and regulatory liabilities. In addition, comprehensive cyber coverage may also include first-party costs like income loss from internet interruptions and data recovery and repair costs.

2) Look out for new "exclusions" and other policy wording changes. Insurance markets may add additional exclusions during and after the pandemic. Employers must pay attention to phrases like "any" losses "arising from or related to" COVID-19. Terms like these are tricky because they allow insurers to get out of paying claims just because they occur during the pandemic. 

Also, several words have been re-defined both in the medical industry and insurance markets. For instance, "professional service" or "computer system" may be narrowed down even more than necessary to cover a smaller amount of risk. Work with brokers like Carriage Trade to analyze the impact of wording changes and new exclusions in your insurance policies - or buy a new cyber liability policy altogether. Whatever you do, make sure the insurance plan you have is adequate and meets your company's cyber security needs.

3) Review, review, review. If you're a corporate policyholder, make sure to review your cyber insurance program every renewal cycle. Reviewing your company's cyber liability plan will allow you to determine the adequacy of coverage as well as its ability to address emerging risks.