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A Framework For Artificial Intelligence
In a Forbes article (https://www.forbes.com/sites/glenngow/2023/08/06/a-simple-ai-governance-framework-in-the-age-of-chatgpt/?sh=5f703ef2...) Glenn Gow uses a Singapore model to offer a framework for how to implement the use...
Read MoreA Cyber Assessment Can Help Your Business
As more companies purchase Cyber insurance, losses are growing from cyber attacks. Insurers now require proof that an organization has implemented cyber security practices as a condition of issuing a policy. Just as with Property and...
Read MoreCybercrime Threat Grows; Do Businesses Care?
When ransomware attacks decreased in 2022, businesses may have thought the worst was over. While there is less concern about cybercrime today, in fact the threats have increased.According to Beazley's Risk & Resilience report...
Read MoreSeven Stages of Cyber Resilience
Most of us have heard of the five stages of grief. Richard Massey of Arcserve has now listed the seven stages of cyber resilience. As posted on https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/the-seven-stages-of-cyber-resilience-7050...
Read MoreThe Latest Trends in Phishing
Phishing continues to evolve, and Lane Spitzner of SANS Security Awareness explains the changes in a post on the Cyber Security Intelligence website (https://www.cybersecurityinteeligence...
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Building Cyber Resilience
A post by Deryck Mitchelson in Cyber Security Intelligence (https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/how=does-your-board-measure-cyber-resilience-7044.html) stressecyber s the need to go beyond traditional cyber security...
Read MoreThe Risks of ChatGPT At Work
ChatGPT now has about 800 million users a month. According to a study by Layer X Security (reported by Cyber Security Intelligence - https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/dont-use-chatgpt-at-work-7034.html), at least 15% of...
Read MoreThe Need for an Incident Response Plan
Given that cyber breaches will occur, businesses need an incident response plan to address them. according to a post by Phil Robinson in Cyber Security Intelligence (https://www.cybersecurityintelligence...
Read MoreThe Dangers of Artificial Intelligence
A post on the Cyber Security Intelligence website (https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/five-biggest-dangers-of-ai-for-the-upcoming-years-7021.html) lists the dangers that artificial intelligence is bringing into our...
Read MoreAccount Breaches in 2023
According to Company Data Breach Tracker, over 346 million people were affected by data breach accounts in the first four months of 2023.
Read MoreThe Security Risks of Working From Home
Data breaches in the United States cost over $450 million in 2022 according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Two thirds of organizations suffer data breaches due to working from home according to Cyber Security Intelligence.
Read MoreGenerative AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become part of our lives. The latest development, generative AI, has burst onto the scene even more rapidly than previous developments. Starting with ChatGPT in November 2022, by May 2023 new and more...
Read MoreThe Temptation of "The Button"
A thought provoking blog by Ethan Mollick on the One Useful Thing website (https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/setting-time-on-fire-and-the-temptation) describes a use of artificial intelligence which can boost productivity while causing...
Read MoreArtificial Intelligence: Past, Present and Future
As described in a long post on the Cyber Security Intelligence website (https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/the-future-of-artificial-intelligence-6962.html), the origins of artificial intelligence can be traced back to the...
Read MoreChatGPT: Security Risks and Solutions
ChatGPT is the fastest growing app in history - 100 million active users in two months. It can write essays, draft contracts, solve complex math problems, and handle customer service requests. But as Robert Massey posts on the Cyber...
Read MoreNew Trends in Ransomware
It's been said that if you build a better mousetrap, nature will build a better mouse. With advances in cybersecurity and more companies declining to pay ransomware demands, ransomware groups are changing their approach.As discussed in...
Read MoreActive Assailant Risks
As anyone who follows the news knows, this year has been a violent one. To date there have been more attacks with multiple fatalities (most but not all mass shootings) than days. In a recent webinar, crisis response firm Merrill Herzog...
Read MoreCredential Stuffing and How to Protect Your Organization
A post by Gilad David Maayan on the Cyber Security Intelligence website (https://wwwcybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/what-is-a-credential-stuffing-attack-and-how-to-protect-your-organization-6919.html) describes credential stuffing...
Read MoreBusiness Leaders Need to Manage Cyber Risk
A post on the Cyber Security Intelligence website (https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/as-a-business-leader-you-must-manage-cyber-risk-6909.html) emphasizes that cyber attacks are a risk for any business. Cyber criminals are...
Read MoreAmericans Are Unsafe Online
According to a Comcast report last December, 78% of Americans online behavior leaves them open to cyber threats. Risky behaviors include reusing or sharing passwords and failing to update software. Despite all the warnings about poor...
Read MoreMore SMBs Acting on Cybersecurity
A new survey by Datto shows more small and medium size businesses are taking measures to protect themselves against cyber attacks. The "State of Ransomware Report" interviewed almost 3,000 IT professionals in eight countries. As...
Read MoreDevelopments in Artificial Intelligence Technologies
As summarized on the Cyber Security Intelligence website (https://www.cyberesecurityintelligence.com/blog/the-latest-artificial-intelligence-technologies-6770.html) there are more and more uses for artificial intelligence. Despite...
Read MoreDisaster Recovery and Operational Resilience
A post by Sean Dubey and Simon Hodgkinson of BP on the Cyber Security Intelligence website (https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/operational-resilience-more-than-disaster-recovery-6767,html) stresses that disaster recovery...
Read MoreTop 10 Cybersecurity Trends for 2023
There is seemingly no end of "top 10" lists as we proceed through the new year. Now Nikita Duggal has a list of cybersecurity trends on the SimpliLearn website:Automated software in vehicles opens up their vulnerability to hackers....
Read MoreProperty Insurance Rates Continue to Rise
According to an article by Claire Wilkinson in Business Insurance, commercial insurance buyers can expect higher property insurance premiums this year. For those exposed to catastrophes or with losses, those increases could...
Read MoreFive Data Security Trends
A post on the Cyber Security Intelligence website (https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/five-data-security-trends-organisations-must-deal-with-6717.html) lists trends in data security to watch in 2023.A significant...
Read MorePreparing for New Data Privacy Laws
With five states - California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia - putting new data privacy laws into effect in 2023, Meru Data has five tips on how to prepare:Focus on collaboration and transparency. Security, IT, human...
Read MoreRansomware is More Expensive, But Funds Transfer Fraud More Frequent
According to an article in CPO Magazine (at https://www.cpomagazine.com.) cyber insurer Corvus reported their most frequent claim was for funds transfer fraud (36% of all claims in 3rd quarter 2022). However, ransomware claims are more...
Read MoreTop 10 Privacy Issues for 2023
Cybersecurity firm Merudata has issued their "top 10" list of privacy concerns for 2023.The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) is effective 1/1/23 expanding on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).The Virginia Consumer Data...
Read MoreHow Climate Change Affects Property Insurance
A post by insurance consultants MB Davis Group (at https://mbdgrp.com/blog/billion-dollar-catastrophes-effect-on-commercial-property-insurance-market/) describes how larger and more frequent climate events are putting pressure on...
Read MoreThe Easy Availability of Hacking Tools
A post by Ashish Khaitan on The Cyber Express website (https://thecyberexperess.com/phyical-hacking-tools-available-e-commerce) describes how tools which can be used to hack computers are available for sale online cheaply from...
Read MoreHurricane Ian Losses - Wind Versus Water
Estimates of property damage from Hurricane Ian are as high as $100 billion, of which $63 billion is insured. What determines whether a loss is insured, and if so under what policy? Standard business property and homeowners policies...
Read MoreSix Workers Compensation Regulatory Issues
According to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) these are the top six issues in workers compensation related legislation and regulation:COVID-19 workers compensation presumption.COVID-19 vaccinations and...
Read MoreInsurance Litigation Continues to Rise
A post by attorneys Julius Matusewicz and Burt L. Freeman on the PropertyCasualty360 website (propertycasualty360.com/2022/09/13/emerging-factors-forecast-a-contnued-rise-in-insurance-litigation/) describes the factors fueling...
Read MoreA Federal Privacy Bill - Pros and Cons
A proposed American Data Privacy and Protection Act has been introduced in Congress with the goal of a single national consumer data privacy standard, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.The advantage of a national standard would...
Read MoreInsurance Fraud Costs U. S Over $308 Billion Annually
In 1995 the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud estimated the annual cost of insurance fraud at $80 billion. This estimate has been cited for over 25 years with no update for inflation or recognizing its limitation to property and...
Read MoreSix Common Threats to Devices
InfosecTrain has put out a list of the most common threats to mobile devices. Some of these are familiar while others are less well known.
Read MoreAutomobile Privacy Issues
Drivers may not think of their cars as part of a network of computer systems. As a post by Merudata shows (https://www.merudata.com/single-post/privacy-in-the-automobile-industry) this is very much the case, and it raises privacy...
Read MoreSubcontractor Insurance and Indemnification Requirements
A recent post on subcontractor safety management while including the need to define contract requirements did not mention either insurance or indemnification. While strictly speaking they are not part of a safety program, proper...
Read MoreHow Long Does It Take to Break a Password?
Jacob Folbrycht of Muninn.ai has a table displaying the time it would take a hacker to break a password. The table shows 4 to 18 characters in the following stages of complexity:Numbers only.Lower case letters.Mixture of upper and...
Read MoreThe Crisis in Healthcare
Robert Pearl, M. D. a Forbes healthcare contributor on the Stanford faculty has published an article on LinkedIn on the crisis in American healthcare. Our system is the most expensive and least effective in the developed world....
Read MoreHow Inflation Affects Your Insurance
Although the rate of inflation appears to be slowing, it has already disrupted our economy. As with everything else, insurance is affected. A recent article in Risk Management magazine (rmmagazine...
Read MoreFive Warnings You've Received A Malicious Email
Data-Guard 365 lists the five flags that an email is not legitimate:Is the body of the email addressed to you? Just like a letter addressed to "Dear Friend" or a robocall that doesn't mention your name, a non-personalized email is a...
Read MoreA Few Statistics on Passwords
According to Steve King of CyberEdio, a 12 character password consisting only of numbers can be hacked within 25 seconds.If the password consists of lower case letters, it takes three weeks to hack.A combination of...
Read MoreBe Careful With Your Cyber Insurance Applications
There has been much attention in the insurance press recently to Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America v. International Control Services Inc. in which Travelers asked to rescind a Cyber insurance policy because of...
Read MoreWhat's In A Trade Name?
A recent ruling by the highest Massachusetts court denied coverage for a firm for activities beyond the "doing business as" in the policy name. The case, Masonic Temple Ass'n of Quincy, Inc. v. Patel was reviewed by Craig F....
Read MoreBiometric Information Privacy
Biometric information and the right to its privacy have been a continuing topic in law, the courts and insurance for several years."Biometric information" is information used to identify an individual based on "biometric identifiers" -...
Read MoreCyber Threat Actors and Their Motivations
With the rise in cyber crime we need to pay attention to who is behind these attacks, and why. A Risk & Insurance post by Abi Potter Clough (riskandinsurance.com/3-types-of-cyber-threat-actors-and-their-motivations/) cites a report...
Read MoreZero Trust and The Kipling Method
Zero Trust uses "The Kipling Method". It is named after English poet Rudyard Kipling, who wrote about "six honest serving men" - Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.As described by Steve King and John Kindervag, here is how these six...
Read MoreTop 10 Cybersecurity Controls
Kelly Geary writes in Risk & Insurance that cyber underwriters have mostly agreed on what network security controls they want in place.
Read MoreInflation and Underinsurance
Inflation is now at a rate of over 8% annually, the highest in 40 years. COVID-19 caused supply bottlenecks, and the Russia-Ukraine war has made shortages worse. The result is higher prices for a wide range of products. In addition,...
Read MoreOSINT Explained
You may have seen the acronym OSINT used in connection with cyber risk. Full disclosure: I don't like acronyms when they're used without explanation. Fortunately, a post by "Sarah" at usersearch.org explains what you need to know. The...
Read MoreProtecting Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Against Cyberattacks
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Cyber Insurance Trends - Higher Losses, Lower Limits
While rate increases are moderating for most lines of insurance, premiums for cyber insurance continue to increase driven by heavy losses. As reported by Reuters, insurers in the United States and Europe and syndicates at Lloyd's are...
Read MoreProperty Underwriting After the Surfside Collapse
The collapse of Champlain Towers South should cause a revaluation of how Property insurance is underwritten. As buildings age, there should be questions about ongoing maintenance and repairs, and whether a building is still...
Read MoreReturning to the Office
According to an October 30 Wall Street Journal article, few employees want to return to the office full time, preferring to work from home three or more days a week.
Read MoreInsurance Values for Real Property
Most Property insurance policies cover real and personal property for replacement cost, which is the cost to repair or rebuild with property of like kind and quality. The usual alternative, actual cash value, is not defined but...
Read MoreTop Seven Obligations for Employee Data Privacy
Rehan Jalil of the Forbes Technology Council and CEO of cybersecurity firm SECURITI has posted these obligations on the forbes.com website. In Jalil's words, there is a "minefield" of personal employee data laws and regulations, and a...
Read MoreAs Cyber Losses Mount, Claims May Be Harder to Prove
The increasing size and frequency of cyber losses have resulted in premium increases and less favorable coverage terms. Now there is evidence that insurers are less willing to pay claims, alleging lack of coverage and/or non-compliance...
Read MoreRestaurant Food Delivery Services and Auto Liability
Insurance consultant Richard Faber (richarduwresources) has a post on how the pandemic has changed restaurant delivery, and its implications for automobile liability insurance. Restaurants had to rely on takeout customers to survive...
Read MoreWill Cyber Insurance Become Mandatory? Should It?
As reported in Canadian Underwriter, Vishal Kundi, CEO of BOXX Insurance foresees cyber insurance will become mandatory as it becomes vital to most countries' economic health. Kundi cited an estimate by Cybersecurity Ventures that...
Read MoreDisruption, Distortion, Deterioration - The Outlook for Cyber
Based on the first three quarters of 2021, Steve King of CyberEd.io sees an increase in disruption, distortion and deterioration in the cyber environment. Disruption: Over-dependence on fragile connectivity, network complexity,...
Read MoreA Model Personal Data Protection Act
Colorado has now joined California and Virginia by passing a data privacy protection act, to be effective 7/1/23. If more states adopt their own laws with material differences between them, businesses operating across state lines will...
Read MoreThe Role of Situational Awareness in Cybersecurity
Cliff Kittle, a cybersecurity strategist and former Marine officer, has a post on the Cybertheory website on situational awareness worth reading. The full post is at https://cybertheory...
Read MoreIgnorance of Cyber Insurance is not Bliss
The Business.com website conducted an online survey of 348 information technology professionals in the United States in August. The results of the survey are posted at https://www.business.com/insurance/cyber-insurance-study/. While...
Read MoreThe Rise in Ransomware Attacks Continues
As posted on the Cybersecurity Insiders website (https://www.cybersecurity-insiders.com), IT security firm NCC Group reports that ransomware attacks worldwide increased by 288% between the first and second quarters of 2021. Almost half...
Read MoreCyber Insurance Today
If you have read previous posts about cyber insurance, you know it is always changing. Here are the latest updates from security firm Halock (https://www.halock.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-cyber-insurance/): Premiums are going up,...
Read MoreJob Growth and Decline Predictions
The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 11.9 million new jobs will be created by 2030, a growth rate of 7.7%. During the same period many jobs will become obsolete. In job growth, not surprisingly the largest increase will be...
Read MoreThe OSHA Vaccination Mandate - A Reality Check
On 9/9/2021 president Biden ordered OSHA to promulgate an emergency temporary standard
Read MoreThe Importance of Remote Work Culture
With the Delta variant continuing to drive up COVID-19 cases and uncertainty over vaccine mandates, a full return to offices in the near future is unlikely. With remote work either an option or a necessity, it is important to have a...
Read MoreProductivity in the Age of COVID
By now it is apparent that COVID-19 is not going away soon. For the forseeable future, organizations will have to deal with mask requirements, vaccination or testing alternatives, and remote work. The challenge is to stay productive....
Read MoreThe Spam Exclusion
Spam - unwanted emails, not the food of dubious nutritional value - is excluded from General Liability policies. The exclusion specifically references the CAN-SPAM Act and other laws against unwanted solicitation, whether by telephone,...
Read MoreTypes of Employee Fraud and How to Prevent It
An article by Marlene Satter on the Benefits Pro website lists eight types of employee fraud and prevention strategies. The article is at https://www.bnefitspro.com/2019/08/12/8-kinds-of-employee-fraud-and-how-to-prvent-it?. Payroll...
Read MoreRansomware Payments: To Ban or Not to Ban?
According to an article by Jenni Bergal in Insurance Journal, (https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2021/07/27/624483.htm) Pennsylvania is one of three states - New York and North Carolina are the others - considering a ban...
Read MoreCyber Security in the Age of Risk
Security consultant Halock addresses the issue of how to achieve reasonable cyber security in this age of increased risk. The post is at https://www.halock.com/achieving-reasonable-security-in-the-age-or-risk. The digital world is...
Read MoreHelp is on the Way: A New Crisis Service
International Risk Management Institute (IRMI) reports in its Expert Commentary that a new three digit call service - 988- is being set up to handle mental health crises. The post is at https://www.irmi...
Read MoreInternal Fraud Controls for Small Businesses
Employee theft is one of the most uninsured or underinsured coverages. While businessowners policies will include a small amount of crime insurance, and many insurers will include employee theft in their property enhancements, most...
Read MoreIs Cyber Risk Becoming Uninsurable?
According to insurance author Barry Rabkin, cyber risk is increasing to a level of uninsurable severity. His opinion is posted at https://rabkinsopinions.com/2021/08/23/shift-to-severity. As society becomes increasingly dependent on...
Read MoreLocal Governments Are Vulnerable to Ransomware
According to an article by Karina Elwood in the Washington Post, in 2020 at least 2,354 local governments, health care facilities, and schools in the United States were affected by ransomware attacks. This past April in the D.C. area...
Read MoreDo you Need A Security Operations Center?
A security operations center or SOC is a centralized team in an organization that monitors the IT network for incidents and supports the cyber security response process. A post by Cameron Krivanek on the Security Boulevard website...
Read MoreIndustry Cyber Risks and Challenges
A post on the Halock website (https://www.haloch.com/what-are-the-cyber-risks-and-challenges-by-industry/) gives a snapshot of the industries most frequently targeted by cyber criminals. Healthcare: 34% of organizations experienced a...
Read Moreinsurance Related Identity Fraud
According to a study by the Alte Group, reviewed on the NU Property Casualty 360 website (https://www.propertycasualty360...
Read MoreA Cyber Incident Response Plan
Cyber Management Alliance has a free cyber incident response plan template on their website www.cm-alliance.com. Based on the guide created by NIST, here are its six components: Prepare: Align policies on personal information, data...
Read MorePitfalls in Property Claims, and How to Avoid Them
Attorneys Ashley Jordan and Christopher Kuleba of Reed Smith LLP have identified six areas of concern when filing a property claim, with tips to avoid problems. Their post is on https://www.reuters...
Read MoreCloud Cybersecurity
With cloud computing continuing to be adopted by many organizations, it's necessary to address security concerns. Roland Costea, chief security officer of SAP Enterprises Cloud Services has some good recommendations. According to...
Read MoreDistracted Driving - Do Businesses Make it Worse?
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, overall driving is down but risky driving is up. A Travelers risk index on distracted driving has some disturbing statistics: 39% of the workforce drives for work purposes daily or almost daily,...
Read MoreWhat Insurance Advisers Need to Review Contractss
Almost every contract - a lease of premises, equipment rental, construction agreement, etc. - will have a requirement for one or both parties to show evidence of insurance. Sometimes the requirement will be brief and non-specific;...
Read MoreNew Approaches to Data Privacy and Security
A new post on the Halock Security website (https://www.halock.com/new-approaches-to-data-privacy-and-reasonable-security) discusses how instead of a punitive approach to cyber security compliance some states have chosen a different...
Read MoreDealing With Delta
Earlier this year it seemed the worst of the pandemic was behind us, and we were getting back to normal. Then the combination of a new, more transmissible variant and a slowing rate of vaccination resulted in a new surge, and...
Read MorePreventing Work From Home Injury
It seems to be well established that working from home is here to stay. While it is more convenient for many employees, it comes with its own challenges. The challenges and solutions are discussed by Kevin Lombardo, president and CEO...
Read More13 Considerations in Buying and Using Cyber Insurance
Cyber security adviser Joseph Steinberg and Mark Lynd of NETSYNC have posted their top considerations when obtaining cyber insurance. The full post is at https://josephsteinberg.com/13-considerations-cyber-insurance/. Some of them may...
Read MoreDo's and Dont's in Employee Termination
If employees need to be terminated for cause, employers need proper documentation in case of an appeal. Workplace coach Dr. Lynne Curry explains what does or does not make the case. Don't confuse opinions with facts. Use specific...
Read MoreManaging Civil Unrest
We have been through this before. When I was a new underwriter in 1968 the United States was dealing with protests over racial injustice, the Vietnam War and a bitter election campaign. Now we have added a pandemic and domestic...
Read MoreIIoT, Meet OSHA
The Internet of Things, and particularly the Industrial Internet of Things - IIoT - is a critical part of infrastructure today. It is also a major target for hackers. As posted by Steve King of CyberEd.io, an IBM X-Force reported that...
Read MoreA "Wellness" Approach to Cyber Risk Management
Resilience Cyber Insurance Solutions has developed a model for middle market organizations to go beyond prepardness and actively protect against cyber risk. Using the medical principle that prevention is preferable to cure, Resilience...
Read MoreCyber Losses and Premiums Continue to Increase
The latest update on cyber risk and insurance, posted by Steve Hallo on the Property Casualty 360 website, shows cyber losses continue to increase in frequency, severity and complexity. According to Accenture plc, total costs and lost...
Read MoreThe World Economic Forum Surveys Return to Work
The World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland has surveyed 12,500 workers in 29 countries on their opinions about work after COVID-19. The survey is at https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/back-to-office-or-work-from-home-survey/....
Read MoreIf You Hire the Formerly Incarcerated, Does Your Crime Insurance Cover Them?
Crime insurance is an often overlooked but necessary part of any organization's insurance program. Companies looking to expand their work force may be more prepared to hire individuals with a criminal history. Many jurisdictions now...
Read MoreGuidelines for Purchasing Contracts
Workers compensation experts Mark Walls and Kimberly George as part of a series of "Out Front Ideas" webinars recently hosted a session with the risk management and procurement teams of the State of Colorado and SEPTA. As summarized by...
Read MoreCybersecurity Must Be Standardized
As we suffer more frequent and more sophisticated cyber attacks, every organization needs to be aware of the threats to its cyber security. This includes not just the basic computer network but all connected personal devices and the...
Read MoreSeven Habits of Accountable People
On her Workplace Coach blog Lynne Curry lists seven qualities of accountable people: They take responsibility for what happens. They communicate openly and honestly. They show ownership and give 100%. They do what they say they will,...
Read MoreAdvantages of Remote Work
Although some companies are insisting that employees return to their pre-pandemic workplace, there is no question that remote work is a continuing practice. Tech companies in particular are continuing remote work permanently, while...
Read MoreA Risk Based Approach to Cybersecurity
As posted by Steve King on the Cyber Theory website (https://cybetheory.io/the-risk-bsed-approach-to-cybersecurity), the New York State Department of Financial Services regulation 23 NCRR 500 is a model for a risk based approach to...
Read MoreA National Cyber Emergency
In a new post Steve King of CyberEd.io summarizes the first half of 2021. There has been an explosion of ransomware and new extortion methods targeting critical infrastructure business operations. There has been an increase in four...
Read MoreHow to Boost Resilience
The disruptions caused by the pandemic should cause all organizations to rethink how they deal with irregular operations and conditions. In a post on the MIT Sloan website, Beth Stackpole describes four ways to boost resilience. The...
Read MoreGovernance, Risk and Compliance Trends
Although governance, risk and compliance may seem more of an issue for major corporations, even small companies need to be aware of them. Gaurav Kapoor, COO of MetricStream and member of the Forbes Technology Council, lists five trends...
Read MoreVirtual Work Post-COVID
While it may be premature to declare victory over the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have reopened their offices on a full time or hybrid basis. Since mandated closures have ended, this changes the legal implications for workers...
Read MoreChanges to OSHA Standards
A post on the First, Verify website (https://www.firstverify.com/fv-blog/osha-standard-changes-that-will-impact-construction-commercial-construction-risk-management-solutions) discusses new OSHA regulations currently in the final rule...
Read MoreLow Cost Ways to Improve Ergonomics
Darcie Jaremey posted ten low or no cost solutions for improved office ergonomics on the ergonomicsHelp website (https://www.ergonomicshelp.com/blog-low-cost-soltions-parts 1 and 2). Maintain lower back support. Adjust the backrest...
Read MoreSmart Grids are Vulnerable to Cyber Attack
Traditional electrical power grids have evolved toward technology-enabled smart grids. These grids integrate traditional electric power grids with information and communication technologies. While they improve the efficiency and...
Read MoreThe Future of Insurance
McKinsey & Company has published an article by Ramnath Balasubramain, Ari Libarikan and Doug McElhaney on how artificial intelligence will impact insurance by 2030. The article is at https://www.mckinsey...
Read MoreEmployee Mental Health After COVID-19
Now that the pandemic is winding down in most states and organizations are reopening, it's time to recognize that returning employees may have mental health issues.
Read MoreThe State of Organized Cyber Crime
This week Steve King of CyberEd.io posted about the growing sophistication of cyber criminals. They are using ransomware proceeds to "reinvest" in new products, infrastructure and services. They sell access to desktops, networks, and...
Read MoreThe Surfside Building Collapse and Insurance
Since the 12 story building in Surfside, FL collapsed the focus has been on the loss of life and ongoing search and rescue efforts. There will be investigations but the cause probably will not be known for months if not years....
Read MoreCyber Threats to Water Supply
Following the attack on a water treatment facility in Florida in February, there have been attacks in California. Fortunately, all were discovered before harm was done. Next time we might not be so fortunate. Water is our most critical...
Read MoreThe Price of Information
One way to understand the scope of cyber crime is to look at what's for sale on the dark web, and for how much. PrivacyAffairs has released a 2020 price index; here are some of the items for sale and their prices. $25 for a Mastercard...
Read MoreWhat is "Reasonable Security?"
With the growing increase in ransomware there is an increased need for cyber security. The question arises, how much security is enough to defend against claims of negligence after an attack? In general, there is a legal standard of...
Read MoreWorkforce Cyber Bullying Is the Tip of the Iceberg
With the growth of remote work, cyber bullying by coworkers has escalated. In her blog workplace coach Lynne Curry cites a report by Paycheck that 44% of employees have received disciplinary action for behavior while working remotely....
Read MoreEssential Steps to Manage Ransomware Risk
Ransomware attacks continue to increase. Despite some victories (recovery of most of the Colonial Pipeline ransom) the "bad guys" are still winning the war. Basically, they have all the advantages. "Ransomware-as-a-service" provides...
Read MoreThe High Cost of Ransomware
With a new cyber attack in the news almost every day, Steve King of Cybered.io posted a recent survey of the effects of ransomware. Commissioned by Sophos, Vansom Bourne surveyed 5,400 IT decision makers in 30 countries. The findings:...
Read MoreAs Offices Reopen, Address Cybersecurity
As the pandemic eases offices are reopening. While we can relax or discontinue rules on masks and social distancing, we cannot ignore the need to stay vigilant on cybersecurity. Whether or not all employees return there are actions...
Read MoreWhy Are We Here? What Can We Do About It?
This is not a blog about the nature of the universe or the meaning of life, but a post on the Cyber Theory website (https://cybertheory.io/why-are-we-here-and-what-to-do-about-it/) does address these questions in the context of the...
Read MoreVendor Agreements Must Address Cyber Risk
If you have been paying attention to reports of data breaches,
Read MoreAddressing Bullying in the Workplace
According to a 2019 Monster.com survey, 94% of over 2,000 employees had suffered bullying in the workplace. This was a 19% increase over 2008. Employment coach Lynne Curry lists five steps for leaders to address bullying: Be respectful...
Read MoreInsurance Trends in 2021
Recent online conferences of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) and the National Conference of Compensation Insurers (NCCI) provide insights from insurance leaders as to where the industry is heading. Here is a summary:...
Read MoreInsurance for Non-Profits
A post by Philadelphia Insurance is a reminder that non-profits, especially health care and human services organizations, need as much if not more insurance as for-profit companies. (Many of the risk exposures of health and human...
Read MoreRansomware - It's Not Just About Computers
If anyone still thinks a ransomware attack - or cyber attacks in general - is just about shutting down a computer network, the Colonial Pipeline attack shows what really is at risk. As cyber expert Steve King puts it, Colonial is not a...
Read MoreThe Fiduciary Liability Market is Hardening
Although fiduciary liability has been a concern ever since the passage of ERISA in the mid 1970s, compared to other management exposures such as directors and officers or employment practices liability claims have been infrequent. Now...
Read MoreCyber Insurer Concerns in 2021
Premiums are continuing to increase for cyber insurance even as rate increases for other lines are slowing down. The increase in ransomware attacks and higher ransom demands is a principal reason. As posted by insurance broker Arthur J...
Read MoreWorking From Home Increases Productivity
According to a study reported in Fortune, employees can work as effectively from the kitchen table as from the office. (Full disclosure: my home office is not my kitchen table. For that matter, my kitchen table is not a kitchen table....
Read MoreSeven New Social Engineering Fraud Tactics
There is seemingly no end of online scammers devising new tactics to steal money or information. Derek Slater of CSO lists seven tactics to watch for (https://www.csoonline...
Read MoreThe Hidden Cost of Workplace Accidents
It has long been known that indirect costs of a workplace accident are several times higher than direct costs. According to a post by First, Verify (https://www.firstverify...
Read MoreLessons to be Learned from the Texas Freeze
Enterprise risk management consultant Carol Williams uses the winter freeze disaster in Texas to present a strategy for dealing with management's objections to costly upgrade recommendations. Her article can be found at htpps://www...
Read MoreKey Practices in Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management
NIST has released a publication (IR 8276) listing eight key practices in cyber supply chain risk management (C-SCRM). Supply chains are often the weak link in cyber security, so every organization should be aware of and follow these...
Read MoreThe Secondary Perils of COVID-19
Perhaps the biggest dangers from the COVID-19 pandemic are first, we don't know what we don't know and second, we are so anxious to be free of restrictions that we neglect continuing dangers. We are seeing increased infections even as...
Read MoreEthics in Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
With the increasing use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) comes decisions about what data can and should be accessed, how to guarantee fairness and avoid bias and discrimination. These questions are addressed by...
Read MoreBusiness Interruption From Cyber Events
Every business that has a computer system needs insurance for "cyber" exposures as much as, if not more so, than "brick and mortar" coverages. Cyber policies today cover both third party and first party claims, including business...
Read MoreIf You Thought 2020 Was Bad...
Steve King reviews the first 90 days of 2021 on the Cyber Theory website. If you are not concerned about cybersecurity now, this article should convince you. The full article can be found at https://cybertheory...
Read MoreHow Was the Suez Canal Blockage Like a Pandemic?
A major news story with insurance implications was the grounding of the Ever Given in the Suez Canal, totally blocking it and backing up ships for days. While the ship has now been refloated, it raises the question of how this...
Read MoreHow Bad Was 2020?
According to Steve King of CyberEd.io, more records were compromised last year than in the past 15 years combined. This was after 2019 saw a 200% increase in data compromise over 2018. Reported ransomware cases increased by 60%....
Read MoreVirtual Team Building to Combat Employee Isolation
According to a post on www.benefitnews.com, one in four employees is leaving their job this year. in February 2020 Buffer surveyed remote workers worldwide and found 20% called loneliness their greatest challenge while another 20%...
Read MoreThreat Hunting - A Needed Cybersecurity Tool
The problem with traditional defense against cyber attacks is that it is passive. Depending on security alerts is ineffective. According to the 2020 Mandiant Security Effectiveness Report: Alerts are only generated for 9% of attacks....
Read MoreHow to Reduce Wire Transfer Fraud Risk
Business email compromise and related scams are causing huge losses. The FBI reports that between June 2016 and July 2019 global losses were over $26.2 billion and over $10 billion in the United States. Fortunately, there are ways to...
Read MoreHow Business and Public Health Can Address Crises
To meet the problems in our health system, the Johns Hopkins Institute for Health and Productivity Studies asked 40 business and public health leaders in 2020 how to address the pandemic and prepare for future crises. Their report,...
Read MoreWhy Attackers are Winning the Cyber War
Blogging on the Cyber Theory website (cybertheory.io/canary-in-the-cybermine/) Steve King writes that artificial intelligence is not being used to help cyber defense. The technology is here. Artificial intelligence and machine learning...
Read MoreCloud Systems Security
Security in the cloud is not the same as in an organization's own computer network. As more companies rely on cloud computing they must balance increased productivity against new security concerns. As reported in Cyber Security...
Read MoreEight Lessons for Business
Risk manager Karin Nadels reviewed the book Busy by Tony Crabbe on LinkedIn and extracted eight lessons for organizations worth passing on. Strategy should not be set in stone. Sometimes you have to admit failure, cut your losses and...
Read MoreNew York's Cybersecurity Guidance for Insureds
Most of the attention to the New York Department of Financial Services cybersecurity guidelines have been focused on its message to insurers. A post by Lewis Price LLC on the Lexology website notes there is also guidance for insureds:...
Read MoreNew Trends in Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities
Redscan has a new report on critical vulnerabilities logged by the National Institute of Standards (NIST) in 2020. As summarized in Cyber Security Intelligence (cybersecurityintelligence...
Read MoreWhat Executives Need to Know About Cyber Security
A survey by the Information Systems Security Association (reported on Cyber Security Intelligence, cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/cyber-security-insights-for-executives-5483.html/) found that 58% of senior managers stated their...
Read MoreHow 5G Will Disrupt Cyber Security
As posted on Cyber Security Intelligence (cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/5g-will-disrupt-cyber-security-5468.html/), installing 5G networks will impact businesses for decades. The goal will be to use the new technology without...
Read MoreThe Basics of Computer Security
Anyone who wants their computer to be secure but doesn't know how to start can benefit from guidelines on the Data Guard 365 website (data-guard365.com/resources/blogs/computer-security-its-bigger-than-spyware-and-viruses/). Like a...
Read MoreNew York Guides Insurers on Cyber Risk
On February 4 New York became the first state to issue guidance to insurers on cyber risk. The Department of Financial Services Cyber Insurance Risk Framework is intended both for cyber insurers and those whose policies include "silent...
Read MoreMaking the Home Office More Efficient
It is almost a year since the COVID pandemic forced us to make radical changes in our business and personal lives. Working from home has become the "new normal" for those of us whose presence in a physical workplace is not required....
Read MoreA New Approach to Cyber Protection
Despite increased spending on cyber security, losses have doubled in five years to $6 trillion according to Cybersecurity Ventures. Legacy and next generation anti-virus tools are increasing ineffective against advanced attacks, and...
Read MoreCrowd Sourced Cyber Security and Ehtical Hacking
You may be familiar with "ethical hackers" as a term for computer experts you can hire to attack your network looking for vulnerabilities. Now as posted in Cyber Security Intelligence this activity is being crowd sourced to cope with...
Read MoreUpdated COVID Vaccination Guidelines
Lynne Curry at Workplace Coach Blog has posted updates to the EEOC's December 2020 guidelines for employee COVID vaccinations. While employers can implement and enforce mandatory vaccination policies, beware of conditions: Since...
Read MoreHealthcare Organizations and Cloud Migration
COVID-19 has forced healthcare organizations to accelerate digital transformation and cloud adoption. According to a global survey from Trend Micro, 88% of healthcare organizations have done so. The three main reasons for moving to...
Read MoreCyber Crime Losses Exceeded $1 Trillion
According to security experts at McAfee, in 2020 worldwide cyber crime losses exceeded $1 trillion. The FBI saw cyber security questions and complaints increase by four times since the beginning of the pandemic. Interpol reports cyber...
Read MoreCyber Risks in 2021
Hilary Tuttle has an article in Risk Management (rmmagazine.com/2021/02/01/2021-cyberrisk-landscape/) on current cyber risks. (Warning - the web site is not secure -what irony!) The risks created or exacerbated by the pandemic...
Read MoreAre Passwords Obsolete?
By now it is a commonplace that Internet fraud using identity theft is a growing problem. Cyber criminals can take advantage of weak passwords to enter a user's network, or use a phishing email to get password information. According to...
Read MoreExamining Unmanned Aircraft Systems
According to a Locke Lord post, in one of his last executive orders President Trump asked government agencies and contractors to check unmanned aircraft and systems for software or electronic components manufactured by "foreign...
Read MoreMalware Update
According to Cloud Security Report 2021 published by cloud security firm Wandera, cyber criminals have shifted their tactics as more employees work from home and on mobile devices. Employees now are twice as likely to connect to...
Read MoreThe 5G Cyber Security Revolution
5 G technology has been touted as transforming how people live and work. it has the potential to create new technologies and develop new industries. 5 G networks deliver high data speeds, increased reliability and availability,...
Read MoreRansomware - A CISO's Nightmare
In a survey of chief information security officers and chief security officers by cyber security firm Proofpoint, 46% said ransomware and extortion is the biggest threat they face in 2021. In recent years ransom demands have jumped...
Read MoreA Failure to Communicate
Steve King, board member at CyberEd.io, discussed a Kapersky study of CISOs and workers in the United Kingdom that is relevant here. Staff workers have increased unsecure behavior since working from home. Over one third of employees...
Read MoreManaging the Post-pandemic Workplace
As businesses reopen they must confront new challenges. Not all employees want to return to the office, and managers may not be comfortable with remote workers. If some employees do return to the office full time, there may be friction...
Read MorePerformance Reviews That Actually Improve Performance
Workplace coach and blogger Lynne Curry notes a 2019 Gallup survey found only 14% of employees strongly agree that their performance reviews inspire improvement. 58% of executives felt their company's management system did not produce...
Read MoreThe Weaponization of Social Media
There are now 3.78 billion users of social media worldwide. This is a 32.2% increase in five years, with average annual growth of 7.2%. Social media has had a huge impact, especially during the pandemic. It enables people to meet...
Read MoreCyber Security Spending Increase Forecast
2020 saw a new high in cyber attacks, with over 12 billion records compromised and ransomware attacks up by 60%. Frequency is expected to continue in 2021. As the economy recovers spending on cyber security will increase. According to...
Read MoreCyber Security is CEOs Biggest Problem
As posted on Cyber Security Intelligence, events and technology company GDS Group polled senior leaders at 300 global companies. Technology leaders rated cyber security, cloud strategy and digital transformation as the most important...
Read MoreWorld Economic Forum 2021 Global Risk Report
The preface to this report states that in 2006 they had warned of the threat of pandemics and other health related risks. The warning was repeated in subsequent reports, and in 2020 it has come to pass. The report paints a dark...
Read MoreIn 2021,Insurance Issues Center on Pandemic
Mark Walls, vice president of Safety National Insurance and a frequent commenter on workers compensation, publishes a "top 20" list of issues at the start of each year. For 2021 his list focuses heavily on the effects of the COVID-19...
Read MoreTen Signs Your Computer is Infected
Data Guard 365 has a post listing ten signs your computer has been infected by spyware and/or adware. Frequent, unauthorized changes in your browser home page. A flickering modem light when no one is online. While everyone gets junk...
Read MoreAutonomous Vehicles - An Insurer's View
As a major insurer, Travelers has actively addressed the issues surrounding the development and insurance of autonomous vehicles (AVs). The Travelers Institute has updated a 2018 position paper "Insuring Autonomy: Auto insurance Will...
Read MoreRisk of Foreign Software Applications
In his last weeks in office President Trump issued an executive order "Addressing the Threat Posed by Applications and Other Software Developed or Controlled by Chinese Companies". As described in a Locke Lord study, the threat is that...
Read MoreCyber Security Training Drills
The first requirement of responding to a cyber security attack is to have an incident response plan. However, a plan is no good unless you put it into practice. Just as with physical fitness, cyber fitness requires exercise. Cyber...
Read MoreSleep Deprivation Hazards
Sleep deprivation is an overlooked cause of workplace accidents. According to the National Sleep Foundation it increases the likelihood of a workplace accident by 70%. Lack of sleep results in poor judgment and impaired performance. At...
Read MoreSwatting Threats Use Smart Devices
Sending false alarms has been a problem since telephones came into wide use. "Swatting" - calling police or first responders to a residence for a false emergency - also goes back many years. The FBI first warned of it in 2008. Recently...
Read MoreCOVID-19 and Business Interruption Insurance: A View of the British Decision
The decision by the United Kingdom's Supreme Court upholding a High Court of Justice ruling that insurers must indemnify their policyholders for COVID-19 business interruption losses is now a prominent insurance news story worldwide....
Read MoreA Brief History of Cyber-Espionage
While the SolarWinds hack deserves the title of "worst cyber attack ever" (at least until the next big attack) cyber espionage has a long history. A post in Cyber Security Intelligence describes some past incidents. The first person to...
Read MoreOur Cyber Problems - And Possible Solutions
Ronald Marks, visiting professor of policy and government at George Mason University, has written in Cyber Security Intelligence about the cyber problems facing president-elect Biden. Marks calls it a "wicked problem" because the...
Read MoreZurich Insurance Addresses Pandemic Risk
Brandon Fick, chief underwriting officer of Zurich North America, has addressed how the insurance industry can respond to pandemics. COVID-19 is a disaster that insurance was not designed to address. It and other past and future...
Read MoreHealthcare Organizations Are Cyber Criminal Targets
Two of the biggest issues of 2020 were coronavirus and cyber crime. For healthcare organizations they have merged as cyber criminals target them. What is their goal? In a word, information - valuable information that can be sold. For...
Read MoreEmployment Practices Liability Insurance and COVID
An article by Andrea Wells in Insurance Journal discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting employment practices liability insurance. The pandemic has resulted in layoffs and furloughs, plus the change to remote work. Now that...
Read MoreWill Artificial Intelligence Replace Cyber Security Staff?
A post in Cyber Security Intelligence cites a survey by security firm Trend Micro in the United Kingdom in which 41% of IT decision makers believed they would be replaced by artificial intelligence by 2030. Only 9% were confident they...
Read MoreCyber Security Issues in 2021
According to Cyber Security Intelligence, these are the major cyber security issues this year: As businesses adapt to remote working they are vulnerable to cyber attacks. Many are still not prepared for remote security. Training for...
Read MoreDeepfakes - The Next Cyber Threat
Cyber analytics specialist CyberCube sees deepfake audio and video technologies as a major threat to businesses within the next two years. As described in an article by Ryan Smith in Insurance Business America, the ability to create...
Read MoreThe Worst Cyber Attack Ever Got Worse
After blogging about the "Worst Cyber Attack Ever" I read a LinkedIn post by Steve King of CyberEd.io which describes how a new strain of malware known as Teardrop has gone beyond the SolarWinds hack. This new malware has control of...
Read MoreA Guide to Malware
Malware - malicious software - is a common name for many types of harmful programs. A post by Ashely Linkheart, "The Different Types of Malware" in Cyber Security Intelligence lists ten types of malware with examples of how they are...
Read MoreAdvanced Threat Protection
Advanced threat protection (ATP) is a cyber security strategy designed to identify threats to a computer system before they can compromise the system. As cyber attacks have become more sophisticated, traditional defenses like antivirus...
Read MorePrepare for a DDoS Attack
Distributed denial of service attacks - DDoS for short - are a threat to every business with an online presence. Between 2014 and 2017 the number of these attacks increased by 2 1/2 times and they have continued to increase since then....
Read MoreRansomware Continues to Increase. There are Ways to Stop It.
According to cyber security firm Halock, in 2021 there will be a ransomware attack every 11 seconds. Estimated cost of these attacks is $20 billion. The third quarter of 2020 saw a 40% increase globally over the prior year, almost 200...
Read MoreDirectors & Officers Liability - Higher Prices, Less Covverage
The market for Directors & Officers (D&O) Liability hardened significantly in 2020, and this will continue in 2021. Marsh LLC reported price increases of over 50% in the fourth quarter, and rate increases for over 90% of its...
Read MoreBusiness Cyber Security Spending in 2021
A global survey of 3,249 business and technology executives by PWC reported on the Cyber Security Intelligence website found the most likely expected threats in 2021 are to the Internet of Things and cloud services. About 40% of...
Read MoreSecurity for COVID-19 Vaccine Dsitribution
The joy of having vaccines approved for COVID-19 has quickly been tempered by problems with its distribution. Now, as an article by Mackenzie Holland and Jim O'Donnell on the searchsecurity.techtarget.com website makes clear, there are...
Read MoreWorst Cyber Attack Ever
As we learn more about the SolarWinds cyber attack that affected both U S government agencies and private companies it is clear just how serious it is. The attack and its implications are reviewed in several posts in the latest Cyber...
Read MorePrepare for a Cyber Attack in 2021
If 2020 was the year of the pandemic, it was also the year of the cyber attack. The two are connected in that the rapid move to remote work increased the risk of cyber attacks. However, as pointed out in a post by security firm Halock,...
Read MoreManagement Lessons From the SolarWinds Data Breach
Forbes magazine usually discusses matters of interest to large corporations, but an article by Noah Barsky, a professor at Villanova, on why the SolarWinds breach reinforces the need for management technical expertise can apply even to...
Read MoreThe Hidden Costs of Unsafe Workplaces
At a time when concerns of worker safeorkty are high because of COVID-19, a post by vendor information management firm First, Verify is a reminder of the hidden as well as obvious costs of ignoring safety at work. It was once thought...
Read MoreThe Next COVID Crisis - Mental Health
A post by Lori Daugherty in medcitynews.com discusses a "second curve" of COVID-19 - related mental health cases. The pandemic has killed over one million worldwide (over 300,000 in the United States) leaving survivors with increased...
Read MoreEmployees and COVID-19 Vaccines
Now that COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for emergency use and should soon be more widely available, employers may want to offer them or require employees to get them. The Phelps law firm has provided some guidance from the EEOC...
Read MoreArtifiicial Intelligence and Cyber Crime
While artificial intelligence has been touted as a way to improve cyber security, it is also being used by cyber criminals in their attacks. The threats are described in a report issued by Europol and the United Nations. Deepfakes are...
Read MoreCongress Addresses IoT Security
The Internet of Things (IoT) has expanded to 10 billion devices in current use, with over 25 billion expected in the next five years. Security is a major concern; many devices are open to hacking which could expose major networks to...
Read MoreHow Cyber Attacks On Goverment Agencies and FireEye Affect You
Two recent cyber attacks have been in the news. Government agencies including the Treasury and Commerce departments were hacked by a "nation state" (Russia is suspected) targeting sensitive data. Cyber security firm FireEye was also...
Read MoreMisunderstandings About Cyber Security
Avast, a supplier of digital security and privacy products, made a survey of over two thousand office workers in the United States and the United Kingdom. The results show a general misconception of cyber security and a need for...
Read MoreHow the Internet Changed the World
Starting as a static network designed to shuttle information and messages between two terminals, and maintained only by expert coders, in the past thirty years the Internet has truly changed the world of communications. As summarized...
Read MoreAre You Ready for a Cyber Attack?
I'm writing this on Pearl Harbor Day, which seems to be an appropriate time to remember an attack can come at any time. Today's attacks come not through enemy aircraft but through your computer, perpetrated by government agents,...
Read MoreManaging Vendor Risks
A critical part of risk management is evaluating third parties including vendors your organization interacts with. Maclear (www.maclearglobal.com) has put together a list of seven best practices to help assess and manage those risks....
Read MoreShould Social Media Be Regulated?
In 2020 the coronavirus pandemic and the presidential election have focused attention on social media's role in conveying both information and disinformation. A report by the Forum for Information and Democracy, established to make...
Read MoreThe Role of Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Security
It is now widely recognized that traditional defenses against cyber attacks are ineffective. Perimiters have gaps that allow hackers to get through or around them. Firewalls cannot stop a determined hacker. As long as humans try to...
Read MoreCyber Crime, and What to do About It
Mary Atamanuik reports on a study of cyber crime and its impact on consumers in the United States and United Kingdom by Clario Tech and Demos. Here are their findings for the United States: 4 in 10 people think they are vulnerable to...
Read MoreShortage of Cyber Security Professionals is Growing
There is a shortage of cyber security professionals worldwide and in the U. S., and it is growing. A study cited by Cyber Security Intelligence estimates the current global workforce is 2.93 million, 805,000 in the U. S. There are 4.07...
Read MoreFive Ways to Secure the Cloud
In 2019 global spending on software as a service increased by 50%, and the number of unique cloud apps used by a company rose by 30%. Cloud breaches are also rising; 75% of organizations surveyed by Oracle reported losing data from a...
Read MoreHow Cyber Criminals Use Artificial Intelligence
With the growing use of artificial intelligence by criminals, it's important to know how it's being used. A Cyber Security Intelligence post describes three ways. Data poisoning is manipulation of a data set to make incorrect...
Read MoreCyber Security Threats and How to Deal With Them
Global spending on cyber security has gone from $3.5 billion in 2004 to $120 billion in 2017, and is estimated to reach $170.4 billion in 2022.
Read MoreCyber Security Predictions for 2021
Anurag Kahol has published seven cyber security predictions in Security magazine: Cyber criminals will focus on remote workers. They have been taking advantage of unpreparedness due to the shift compelled by COVID-19. Even before the...
Read More10 Questions to Answer About Supply Chain Cyber Risk
Steve Stobo, director at Cyber Consulting Services Limited, asks these questions: Do you know the overall cyber security rating of your supply chain? What is your financial risk if your supplier is breached? Are all your suppliers...
Read MoreMid-Size Companies Should Use Insurers' Loss Control Help
Paul Isaac and Tom Lysaught of QBE North America have written in Middle Market Growth about a report on mid-size company risk that QBE co-sponsored with the Association for Corporate Growth. While 99% of those companies were very...
Read MoreWho Do You Trust With Online Data? Who Should You Trust?
A survey by communications and PR firm Edelman shows many Americans don't trust either government or social media to handle their personal information. 35% don't trust the U. S. government, 34% don't trust Facebook, 32% don't trust...
Read MoreFive Things for Management to Know Ab out Cyber Security
As cyber risk evolves, traditional defenses focused on perimeter security and known threats are no longer adequate. Threats change more quickly than organization response. A Cyber Security Intelligence post lists five things business...
Read MoreBusinesses Still Don't Have Cyber Protection
Despite all the publicity about data breaches and ransomware attacks; despite the financial loss and if publicized the reputational loss to a breached business; despite the possibility that an attack could destroy a business: an...
Read MoreArtificial Intelligence is a Business Necessity
To prepare properly for the next ten years, businesses need to use artificial intelligence. According to McKinsey, business use of AI is increasing by almost 25% annually. A major reason to use AI is that criminals use it to attack...
Read MoreMalware and Ransomware
Harman Singh, a managing consultant at cybersecurity firm Cyphere Ltd. has a post on Cyber Security Intelligence dealing with these threats. To distinguish between the two, malware is more powerful. It can damage industries and disrupt...
Read MoreOrganizations Must Anticipate Cyber Attacks
Since IT networks are complex, hackers are typically able to stay undetected for months or even years. According to a Cyber Security Intelligence post, organizations must be able to analyze contextual data to make informed security...
Read MoreOnline Skimming Threats
As social distancing has increased electronic activities, criminals have adapted their technology to steal information. According to a post by security firm Halock, in 2020 online purchases have increased for all types of merchants. In...
Read MoreEmployee Management for Remote Workers
With the continuing COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of easing, managers have to adapt their skills to work with remote employees. Most of them are not trained for this. Without being able to see or hear their employees, some...
Read MoreIf You Rent Equipment, A Certificate Is Not Enough
Recently a client who had rented a crane with an operator sent us a certificate as evidence of the renter's insurance. The certificate showed coverage for General Liability, Automobile Liability and Workers Compensation, and our client...
Read MoreWhat You Need to Know About 5G
You have probably read or heard bout fifth generation - 5G for short - internet connectivity. (For those who have lost track, 1G was analog voice, 2G digital voice, 3G mobile data and 4G mobile broadband.) As described in a Cyber...
Read MoreReflections on the Cyber Revolution
Alfred Rollington, author and director of Cyber Security Intelligence Ltd., has written an article "Government, Cyber Attacks, Terrorism & Piracy" which the digital revolution and cyber security into historical perspective. As...
Read MoreTop Ten Lessons In Workforce Response to COVID-19
In a Risk & Insurance article, Annemarie Mannion interviewed Tammy Bradly, vice president of clinical product development at Coventry, and Tim Howard, senior vice president of field case management for Genex Services, to discuss the...
Read MoreInsider Cyber Threats
"A man's enemies are the people of his house", the prophet Micah wrote. Apparently insiders were a threat even in biblical times. Now they can breach your computer network. Recently rouge employees were responsible for data breaches at...
Read MoreSupply Chain Cyber Risk
BlueVoyant has conducted a survey of supply chain cyber risk, globally and for five individual countries. The survey was conducted this June. Here are some of their findings for the United States, according to 301 executives...
Read More
Four Questions to Ask a Cybersecurity Expert
If you are a business owner with limited knowledge of how to deal with cybersecurity risks, it makes sense to seek expert advice, When interviewing experts it is important to ask the right questions. Jennifer Bell list four essential...
Read MoreHow Artificial Intelligence Improves Business Processes
A post in Cyber Security Intelligence lists and describes the areas in which artificial intelligence is helping organizations find better ways of working. Meetings - voice assistants can schedule meetings, listen in and take notes....
Read MoreEmployee Mental Health During COVID-19
As Teresa Williams, managing partner of Home Care Connect, put it in a post on WorkCompWire, "mental health is getting hammered" by the pandemic. More than 36% of U.S. adults are showing symptoms of depression or anxiety, compared to...
Read MoreIsland Hopping - Another Cyber Threat
In World War II, "island hopping" was the successful American strategy of avoiding Japanese strongpoints by attacking more vulnerable outposts. Today, cyber criminals use "island hopping" to attacks organizations through vulnerable...
Read MoreEmployees Need Cyber Security Training
Digital technology has changed the way we live and work, for better and for worse. The negatives include fake news and cyber crime. COVID-19 has created new opportunities for cyber criminals to exploit remote workers. Businesses which...
Read MoreDeepfake Videos Are A National Security Threat
According to a post on the uniquednp.com website, top-notch deepfake videos made using artificial intelligence are a national security threat. (Note: The quality of the writing in this blog leads me to believe this is not a U.S....
Read MoreWho's Afraid of the IoT?
Steve King, board member at CyberEd.io, posted some "eye opening" statistics: The Internet of Things (IoT) market should reach $1.1 trillion by 2026. Most of the buyers are banking and financial services. If estimates that by 2025 152...
Read MoreEstonia's Role in Cyber Security
For the benefit of the geographically challenged, Estonia is the northernmost of the three small republics on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Esther Naylor, a research assistant at Chatham House, has written a post in Cyber...
Read MorePermanent Work From Home Requirements
An article in Harvard Business Review by Maxim Sytch and Lindred L. Greer asks "Is Your Organization Ready for Permanent WFH?". While not every type of organization can adapt to remote work (hospitals and police are two prominent...
Read MoreCreating A Cyberscurity Culture
This blog is mostly based on a post by Mark Stone on the Security Intelligence website. As Jane Austen might say, it is a truth universally acknowledged that cyber security in an organization starts with its employees. The challenge is...
Read MoreRisks and Benefits of Cloud Security
"Cloud computing" is a widely used but not well understood term. Basically, it's using a service provider to store and process data, usually from multiple organizations. The Carnegie Endowment has published a report "Cloud Security: A...
Read MoreCyber Threats From China
A research report by threat intelligence experts InSights, as posted on the Cyber Security Intelligence website, describes China as "perhaps the world's greatest cyber power". That power is not being excercised for good. China has an...
Read MoreManagement Must Understand Cyber Risk
Whether your company is large or small, officers and directors must understand their cyber risks. In a Harvard Business Review article Daniel Dobrygowski and Derek Valada discuss the need for informed decision making on this risk....
Read MoreBeware Online Financial Fraud
A Cyber Security Intelligence post from Great Britain states their National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) has taken down over 300,000 malicious URLs linked to fake celebrity endorsed investment schemes in four months. Criminals use...
Read MoreSocial Media Reacts to COVID-19 Misinformation
In response to pressure, in March 2020 Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter and You Tube announced they would combat fraud and misinformation about coronavirus. In addition to fraudulent websites, misleading or...
Read MoreThe Endof the World Wide Web ?
Following President Trump's executive order to remove Tik Tok, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called for a "clean" United States internet with no Chinese companies. China is pushing back, but they have their own firewall against U....
Read MoreCyber Security Threats to Home Workers
Cyber criminals are using COVID-19 to target employees working at home. According to a Cyber Security Intelligence post, attacks targeting home workers increased from 12% of malicious email traffic in March to 60% six weeks later. The...
Read MoreWhy You Need A Cyber Audit
I have addressed this before, but a new post by Cyber Security Intelligence once again recommends using an independent IT team to audit your computer systems and cyber security. This is especially important if your organization has...
Read MoreHow to Keep Claims from Getting Contentious
In a May 18, 2020 online article in NU Property Casualty 360, business coach Timothy D. Christ explains "Why insurance claims get contentious". Christ explains in simple language why insurance companies whose goal should be to settle...
Read MoreTop Tips for Online Security
GoCyber a cyber security training app has a "top ten" list of safe online practices for employees working remotely: Don't use public Wi-Fi for confidential work or financial transactions. Only use public Wi-Fi for non-personal activity...
Read MoreOnline Job Offers May Be False
According to a post in Cyber Security Intelligence, Israeli defense firms were hacked by a group linked to North Korea, using fake job offers to try to obtain sensitive data. The hackers created fake LinkedIn accounts impersonating...
Read MoreHow COVID-19 Is Changing Healthcare Practices
Mark Pew on thepreferredmedical.com website describes how COVID-19 is changing how healthcare is practiced. These initiatives are becoming the new normal: More automation: as insurers and service providers have furloughed employees...
Read MoreAI Data - A Problem and its Solution
In a post last June on the 1touch.io website, Itzhak Assaraf writes that artificial intelligence creates huge amounts of personal data - over 1.7 MB on each person, every second, every day. The more data AI is given, the more it learns...
Read MoreThe Threat to Satellite Communications
According to Cyber Security Intelligence, there are over 2,000 orbiting satellites at present, and hundreds of geostationary satellites. Telecommunications companies are planning dozens of new satellite launches. Amazon plans to create...
Read MoreIndustrial Robots and the Peril of Cyber Attack
One of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be the increasing use of industrial robots. The combination of artificial intelligence, large data sets and lower priced electronics is making robots an attractive alternative...
Read MoreUnderstandung the Digital Revolution
Alfred Rolington, co-founder and CEO of the Cyber Security Intelligence website, has written a blog "Creating Post-Modern Intelligence" which provides a survey of the "Digital" or "Cyber" Revolution. (Since writers vary in describing...
Read MoreSlower Growth in Cyber Security Spending
It's understandable that in a recession businesses with lowered revenues will spend less. So it's not surprising that as reported in Cyber Security Intelligence that market analysts now expect only minimal expansion in the cyber...
Read MoreCyber Crime Is Growing. Artificial Intelligence Is a Remedy
It sounds like a broken record, but since the coronavirus started spreading cyber criminals have ben taking advantage. Two posts in Cyber Security Intelligence address the subject. An assessment by Interpol shows a change in focus by...
Read MoreCrisis Planning After COVID-19
In an Insurance Journal article, Kelly Geary suggests crisis is the "new normal" in today's world. This makes crisis management more important than ever. COVID-19 is the worst crisis of this century so far, and experiencing it is, in...
Read MoreMeeting COVID-19 Supply Chain Challenges
An International Risk Management Institute (IRMI) Expert Commentary by Cheri Hanes, CRIS, LEED AP, CDS discusses the problems of supply chains caused by COVID-19. Although Hanes focused on construction contractors, her analysis can be...
Read MoreCOVID-19 Risk Management Lessons for Small Businesses
Mitch Davis of the M B Davis insurance consulting group has listed seven things for small businesses to consider about the effects of COVID-19. Just-in-time supply chains are susceptible to globally disruptive events. International...
Read MoreAvoid Workplace Violence When Firing Employees
While violent reactions by fired employees happened before 2020, tensions growing out of the pandemic, the economy and the election make the possibility of violence more likely. In a LinkedIn post Robert Kravitz recommends ways to deal...
Read MoreCleaning Up Is Not Covered Physical Damage
One of the arguments raised by insureds seeking coverage for business interruption due to COVID-19 shutdowns is that cleaning their premises is covered "physical loss". So far this argument has not been received favorably by either...
Read MoreTrends in Employment Practices Liability
As reported by Jordan Kurkowski of AmWINS in The Edge and republished in CPCU Insights, these are the top eight trends in Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI): COVID-19 is a developing event. Layoffs, remote work and return...
Read MoreSurvival in the Age of COVID-19
An article "What's your survival plan if there's no vaccine?" at executeastrategy.com lays out a bleak but ultimately helpful program for dealing with this pandemic. Using the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic as a model, experts suggest...
Read MoreManagement Liability - COVID-19 Claims and Exclusions
Management Liability is the term used for coverages for claims arising out of an organization's business decisions.
Read MoreTreat Cyber Security Risk Like Financial Risk
In a post on www.cbronline.com, Ian Glover president of CREST, a non-profit accreditation body, argues for a new way of reporting on cyber security. Boards are responsible for managing cyber security resilience and communicating to...
Read MoreChallenges to Cyber Security
Cyber security experts at Balbix have issued a "State of Enterprise Security Posture Report" based on an online survey of IT and cyber security professionals conducted in May 2020. As reported in the Cyber Security Intelligence website...
Read MoreHow Cyber Crime Affects Remote Working
Specialist security firm Specops Software has surveyed 2,043 business owners in 11 different sectors. As reported in the Cyber Security intelligence website, 41% of employees have not been given adequate cyber security training for...
Read MoreArtificial Intelligence As An Offensive Threat
Artificial intelligence (AI) is touted as the best defense against increasingly complicated cyber attacks. Aside from governments and a few leading companies, its use has been slow to catch on. Unfortunately, AI is now used by...
Read MoreWhy You Need A Cyber Security Audit
In today's cyber world, organizations have to manage cloud computing, data analytics and remote working. They have to deal with complex privacy regulations and sophisticated cyber attacks. Maintaining security and regulatory compliance...
Read MoreFive Recommendations for Better Cyber Security
It has been said that we are living in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It has been described as a fusion of technologies that blurs the lines between physical, digital and biological. It is marked by developments in artificial...
Read MoreBig Data and Policing
As reported on the Cyber Security Intelligence website, police worldwide are using "Big Data" to predict crime and analyze criminal methods. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, data is mined for information that can...
Read MoreCloud Security Risks
Cloud security specialist Orca Security has released a report on the state of cloud security in 2020. As reported on the Cyber Security Intelligence website, 77% of organizations have 10% or more of their internal workload either...
Read MoreThe Challenges of Cyber Security
The Cyber Security Intelligence website reports there have been a number of recent predictions that the largest cyber attack in history will happen soon. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a large number of hacks, and a shift back...
Read MoreWhy Schrems II Matters if You Do Business in the EU
A Locke Lord Quick Study begins "16 July 2020 will go down in data protection history". It continues "On that day, the EU Court's decision in Schrems II dealt international data transfer a mighty blow. The EU-US Privacy Shield...
Read MorePlan B for Workers Compensation
A proposal for restructuring workers compensation has been posted on LinkedIn by James Ellis, a self-described "student of humanizing injury recovery support, workers compensation & well-being". His ideas are similar o those advocated...
Read MoreContact Tracing and Data Privacy
A halock.com blog discusses the use of contact tracing apps to track individuals exposed to coronavirus. On the one side is the advantage of increased knowledge. On the other is the issue of invasion of privacy. About 79% of Americans...
Read MoreCOVID-19's Impact On Cyber Security
COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we live and work. After pressure on healthcare systems and adapting to a socially distant environment, the biggest challenge is defending businesses against cyber attack when many of us are...
Read MoreFacebook Settles Privacy Claims
Facebook has agreed to settle a class action suit for alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) for $650 million, after a California district court had rejected an earlier settlement of $550 million....
Read MoreWhy You Need A Cyber Incident Response Plan
2020 is little more than half over, and security vulnerabilities have made almost as many headlines as COVID-19. Cyber attackers have taken advantage of working remotely and the need and desire for pandemic information. As posted on...
Read MoreJames Bond Is Obsolete
A post on the Cyber Security Intelligence website "Cyber Warfare, Intelligence & Malware" describes how digital disruption is changing espionage and intelligence collection. Instead of the secret agents we've seen in movies and...
Read MoreCOVID Related Workplace Discrimination
According to employment law firm Fisher Phillips LLC, as reported on the plrisk.com blog, 283 federal and state COVID related cases were filed in June, 41 of which were class action suits. 63 were pandemic-related discrimination claims...
Read MoreCyber Security and Insurance for Community Associations
As posted by Skyscraper Insurance community associations such as condominiums and homeowners associations are vulnerable to crime. Like small and medium sized businesses, they have data cyber criminals seek but not the resources for...
Read MoreTop 10 Cyber Risks for Transportation and Logistics Companies
Transportation may not seem like an industry with a large cyber exposure. However, as shown in an online report from AmWINS Group there are critical internal and external networks that transportation and logistics companies rely on....
Read MoreCyber Security Is Essential For Startups
Even during a pandemic, new businesses are being formed. Many of them may be operating primarily or totally online. These new firms should not let preoccupation with hiring staff and developing product cause them to neglect cyber...
Read MoreWhat Directors and Officers Can Learn From Zoom
The coronavirus shutdown was a blessing to Zoom. Their subscriber base went from 10 million in December 2019 to 300 million in April 2020. Then the problems began: negative headlines about privacy and security, "Zoom bombings", bans by...
Read MoreThe Cybersecurity Disconnect
VMWare a software innovator has released a cybersecurity threat survey report on the United Kingdom. The report on carbonblack.com found, based on responses from 251 executives: 98% said attack volumes had increased in the last twelve...
Read MoreHate Speech Online
According to Cyber Security Intelligence, an audit Facebook commissioned of its civil rights record found "serious setbacks" in how the network deals with hate speech, misinformation (also known as fake news) and bias. The audit was...
Read MoreFour Questions To Ask About Your Cyber Insurance
Computer expert Elizabeth Wu recently posted four questions on LinkedIn to ask about your Cyber policy's coverage after a ransomware attack. To be sure the policy conditions have not been breached, ask these questions: What security...
Read MoreWorkers Compensation and COVID-19
Historically speaking, workers compensation has covered occupational diseases but not "ordinary diseases of life" not confined to the workplace. That has been changing, and COVID-19 has accelerated the process. as described in a number...
Read MoreIssues in Privacy and Cyber Litigation
Privacy and cybersecurity litigation is increasing and is likely to escalate. A recent study by the Locke Lord law firm identified seven key issues to consider in a lawsuit. Standing to sue: plaintiffs need to show actual damages or...
Read MoreCOVID-19 and Insurance
In its June 2020 issue Best's Review had a special section on COVID-19's effect on the insurance industry. We must recognize that this is an ongoing event and the views expressed may seem outdated six months from now; nevertheless it...
Read More6 ways to keep your phone from spying on you.
Mobile phones are part of everyday life for many people. Smartphones include multiple microphones and cameras to absorb and transmit audio and video. These tools have many uses, but they are also useful for people who do not have your...
Read MoreEmerging Risks for 2020
While we are focused on coronavirus, reinsurer Swiss Re's Systematic Observations of Notions Associated with Risk (SONAR) has published its annual list of emerging risks. Of the 14 risks, eight are considered short term and six long...
Read MoreHow Insurance Could Change After COVID-19
A recent post on the CRWE World website (crweworld.com) "What Should Insurers Focus on Post-COVID-19?" while superficial and lacking specifics did provide food for thought on what insurers should learn from this pandemic.
Read MoreMental Health in the Post-COVID-19 Workplace
While the primary focus in returning to the workplace has been physical safety and wellness, employee mental health and emotional well-being need attention. Sheltering in place for weeks or months has probably resulted in stress. Work...
Read MoreBusiness Interruption Complications: Riots, COVID-19, PPP
In the best of circumstances, adjusting business interruption losses is complicated because they require calculation of what a business would have earned had no loss occurred. The riots growing out of protests over George Floyd's death...
Read MoreA Possible Solution to COVID-19 Business Interruption Losses
In an ABA Journal interview with leading lawyers on the impact of COVID-19, Kenneth Feinberg - noted for administering high profile compensation funds - suggested a National Coronavirus Compensation Fund as an alternative to litigation...
Read MoreExpect Employment practices Claims After COVID-19
Jared Pelissier and Debra Jayroe of the Woodruff Sawyer law firm have posted on the likelihood of an increase in employment claims as businesses reopen after COVID-19 closures. The pandemic has resulted in new laws enacted or proposed...
Read MoreRansomware Protection is Better than Payment
As reported on the Cyber Security Intelligence website, threat protection firm Sophos commissioned a survey of IT managers early this year. Based on responses by 5,000 managers in 26 countries, this "State of Ransomware" report...
Read MoreCybersecurity Trends Update
From recent posts on Cyber Security Intelligence website, by security company RiskIQ and business consultant Chester Avey. Over 300,000 suspicious coronavirus websites were created in the two weeks between March 9 and March 23,...
Read MoreAnother Obstacle to COVID-19 Coverage
An article by Christopher J. Boggs in Insurance Journal "Business Income, COVID-19, and Plaintiff Attorneys; They Keep Trying" cites the common reasons, such as need for physical damage and virus exclusion, to explain why most Property...
Read MoreAdvantages and Disadvantages of Remote Work
As listed in a post by CGA Management (cgamanagement.co.uk; this is British but applies to American companies). Advantages; Reduced travel time and cost. Easier to locate and retain talent. Remote workers have a lower attrition rate...
Read More10 Trends Causing Workplace Disruption
Liberty Mutual has a "Workplace Disruption Risk Matrix" with ten factors ranked according to frequency and severity. Their ranking, with some comments: Natural disasters - 14 events totaled $45 billion losses in 2019. Hurricanes and...
Read MoreRemote Work Creates Privacy Risks
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many employers to facilitate work from home procedures. As pointed out in a new Locke Lord QuickStudy, the "rush to remote" has put the need to roll out new technology ahead of the need to secure...
Read MoreNew Developments in Data Privacy
An article by Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance senior counsel Kate Browne and assistant vice president Sean Clifford details seven ways new data privacy regulations will influence how organizations manage cyber risk. Compliance...
Read MoreCyber Risk in Mergers and Acquistions
Changes in the economy due to the pandemic are forcing many businesses to re-evaluate their operations. For some this will lead to mergers or acquisitions. As noted by cyber security consulting firm Halock, cyber security is an...
Read MoreRestarting Businesses in the "New Normal"
In addition to addressing workplace reopening after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, businesses must address how they will interact with their customers. According to John K. Tiene of management consulting firm Argonne Associates,...
Read MoreHow COVID-19 Impacts Workers Compensation
Two experts in the workers compensation field, Kimberly George of Sedgwick and Mark Walls of Safety National provided some thoughts on COVID-19's effect on workers compensation and related issues. Treatment of injured workers is...
Read MoreThe Post-COVID-19 Emerging Workforce
As attention turns to states reopening, more recommendations on how to deal with the "new normal" are coming out. A webinar presented by surplus lines broker ARC Excess and Surplus and law firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLC offered...
Read MoreTrends in Cybersecurity
While we have been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on cybersecurity (such as increased vulnerability of remote work) there are other trends going on, as listed by Cyber Security Intelligence: Ransomware is an...
Read MoreRecalling Workers as COVID-19 Restrictions Ease
While it is premature to think the crisis is over (at best, it's the "end of the beginning") and we could see restrictions re-imposed if cases and deaths continue to climb, states are relaxing restrictions and businesses are reopening...
Read MoreReducing Risk of Remote Working
With work from home now the "new normal" for many organizations, maintaining cyber safety as threats increase should be a priority. Here are recommendations from Cyber Security Intelligence: Update laptops with security patches. Ensure...
Read MoreAll Employees Need Cybersecurity Training
With many organizations changing from office based to remote work, maintaining cyber security is vital but harder to enforce. Workers from home are targets for cyber criminals who are trying to penetrate organizations through unsecured...
Read MoreThe Promise and Peril of Quantum Computing
As posted on Cyber Security Intelligence, there is a revolutionary development taking place that will transform computing but at the same time give criminals and hackers more power of disruption. This development is quantum computing....
Read MoreWhy Your Business Interruption Insurance May Not Cover Coronavirus
There has been much discussion recently about business interruption insurance, or the lack of it, for the COVID-19 pandemic. Many lawsuits seeking coverage have been filed, and both state legislatures and Congress have had bills...
Read MoreSecurity for Video Conferencing
With working and learning from home the "new normal" which will probably continue even after the pandemic, it is important to know the safety rules.
Read MoreCoronavirus Cyberscam Update
Although it seems repetitive, the continuing evolution of cyberscams during the COVID-19 pandemic requires constant updates. As posted by computer security researcher David Balaban on Cyber Security Intelligence here are current...
Read MoreReopening Pennsylvania - and Beyond
Since the majority of The Beacon Group's clients are in Pennsylvania, Governor Wolf's reopening process should be primary guidance. For other states and additional recommendations, see the end of this blog for resources. With a target...
Read MoreLife In a Post-Coronavirus World
As we start to discuss how to reopen the economy once COVID-19 infection rates decline, predictions are being made about the "new normal". Here in summary are "7 Predictions for a Post-Coronavirus World" as posted on marker.medium.com,...
Read MoreThe State of Cyber Resilience, and How to Improve It
The results of Accenture's annual State of Cyber Resilience Survey have been posted on Cyber Security Intelligence. 4,644 executives of companies with revenues of over $1 billion from 16 countries worldwide responded. Some of the...
Read MoreA New Perspective on Cyber Risk
In a post on Halock.com, auditor Chris Cronin writes that as insurers try to model cyber risk and brokers try to get the right information from their clients...
Read MoreAs Cyberattacks Increase, Experts Fight Back
As reported on the Cyber Security Intelligence website (www.cybersecurityintelligence.com) there is good news along with the bad. Cyber attacks are up 500% in a month. Taking advantage of panic and chaos caused by COVID-19, hackers are...
Read MoreHow Businesses Will Change After COVID-19
We are still in the middle of this epidemic, but already many are opining on what our world will look like post-COVID-19. While some have gone into more detail, a post by Andrea (Belk) Olson, MSC "What Will Change Post-Coronavirus"...
Read MoreTelehealth Increased Use Brings Cybersecurity Risks
As reported in a post by security consulting firm Halock ("Taking Care With Telehealth: Health Care. Cyber Care. Duty of Care" at halock.com), virtual visits to physicians doubled from 14% in 2016 to 28% in 2019 according to the...
Read MoreThe NIST Privacy Framework
On January 16, 2020 the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released its Privacy Framework. This is not a law or regulation, but a voluntary tool to help organizations manage their privacy risk and comply with...
Read MoreDoing Business Online - the Risks of E-Contracts
With the COVID-19 epidemic forcing many businesses into online transactions, what are the risks of electronic contracts and signatures compared to hard copy documents? Law firm Locke Lord recently published a "Quick Study" detailing...
Read MoreCyber Scams and Threats Increasing
With the spread of COVID-19, online scammers are taking the advice of "never let a crisis go to waste". As posted on Cyber Security Intelligence, cyber criminals who usually sensationalize the news now are disseminating accurate...
Read MoreBusiness Interruption and COVID-19: Four Takeaways
Since the COVID-19 crisis began, White and Williams attorney Randy Maniloff has been posting regular updates on his Coverage Opinions website. In an April 5 post he listed four takeaways on the continuing debate over business...
Read MoreCOVID-19 Insurance Issues
While business interruption claims and attempts to legislate coverage have been getting most of the attention, COVID-19 also impacts other coverages. International broker Marsh reported on evolving implications last month; their...
Read MoreCyber Security for Remote Work
The COVID-19 epidemic has forced many companies to close their offices and require employees to work from home. This is a necessary measure to contain the epidemic and save lives. Nevertheless, there is a trade-off - a decreased risk...
Read MoreIs The Internet Of Things The New Asbestos?
The Internet of Things (IoT) began in 1982 when a graduate student connected a vending machine to a computer network. Almost 40 years later, there are an estimated 50 billion connected devices according to the SafeOwl. By 2025, there...
Read More"Reasonable Expectations" Versus Business Interruption Exclusions
There has been pressure on insurers to cover business interruption losses due to COVID-19. Many policyholders may believe they have coverage in their Property policies. This may be true for a few broadly written policies, but in most...
Read MoreThere is a Need For Trained Cybersecurity Workers
According to a new post on the Cyber Security Intelligence website,
Read MoreCoverage for Coronavirus Claims
To the question "Are Coronavirus claims covered?" the all-purpose short answer is "It depends". Policy wording, specific circumstances and, in the long run, court decisions will be determinant. That said, here are some general thoughts...
Read MoreThe Other Pandemic
While we are rightly worried about COVID-19 and searching the Internet for updates, there is another pandemic going on - hackers targeting websites to disrupt and spread misinformation. The United States Department of Health and Human...
Read MoreLegislatures May Rewrite Business Interruption Policies
There is a saying that hard cases make bad law. COVID-19 is a hard case, in the medical and economic if not the legal sense. Now there is a real chance New Jersey will use it to enact a bad law. First, some history. In 2006 the...
Read MoreFour Signs Your Cyber Security is Failing
Small and medium businesses without trained IT staff can find it hard to manage their cyber security. Products and services are becoming more customized, new updates are released and compliance requirements become broader....
Read MoreThe Changing Face of Risk
According to Cyber Security Intelligence, Allianz's Risk Barometer for 2020 shows cyber incidents as the most important business risk according to 2,718 risk management experts from 102 countries and 22 industry sectors. Business...
Read MoreSix Ways to Avoid an Employment Practices Lawsuit
In addition to the cost of defending an employment lawsuit (one employee claim could reach $100,000 attorney fees and costs), a suit will cost hours spent in gathering documents and taking witness depositions. Having lawsuits on public...
Read MoreWe're Not Doing Enough to Combat Cyber Crime
Cyber Security Intelligence reports that cyber crime makes up 50% of all fraud crime (75% in the United Kingdom). The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reports cyber crime totaled $3.5 billion in 2019, with 467,361 complaints. The...
Read MoreGDPR Compliance for US Organizations
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been in force in the European Union since 5/25/18, but according to the Cyber Security Intelligence website almost 30% of businesses are not compliant. Since GDPR applies to...
Read MoreThe Risk of Smart City Disruption
If data breach to a single organization can be catastrophic, imagine what happens when the "organization" is an entire city. "Smart cities" where systems and services are interconnected in a single network are at serious risk of...
Read MoreHow an Internet of Things Hack Can Compromise a Network
A recent post by Sean Hollister of NWC Alliance discusses how smart light bulbs can be hacked and why this is more dangerous than letting a hacker turn your lights on and off. By hacking one bulb the hacker can trigger a data overflow...
Read MoreWorkplace Violence Statistics
Recent statistics from FaceFirst.com were posted to the Workers Compensation Roundtable LinkedIn group (https://www.workerscompensation.com/news_read.php?id=35004). In 2017 there were 424 violent deaths in retail locations. Violent...
Read MoreThe Coronavirus is Being Used to Spread Online Infection
The coronavirus is now infecting cyberspace. According to Cyber Security Intelligence, criminals are using fears about the virus to spread malware.
Read MoreThe Fourth Industrial Revolution
The term "Industrial Revolution" has been with us since the mid-18th century. In the past 250 years we have actually gone through four industrial revolutions. The first started with the steam engine and brought new manufacturing and...
Read MoreInsanity and Flood Loss
A popular definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. One prominent example is rebuilding properties in a flood plain without taking steps to prevent or mitigate future loss. FEMA...
Read MoreThe Latest Data Breach Statistics
As posted to peerlyst.com by Chris Roberts: The global average mean time to identify a data breach is 197 days - over six months. The mean time to recover from a data breach is about 70 days or ten weeks. 76% of organizations were...
Read MoreWawa Data Breach
Since the increasingly-popular, regional convenience chain, Wawa, announced a breach of their payment card processing system last December, the story has continued to gain people's attention. Those of us who have probably shopped at...
Read MoreWorkplace Safety Trends in 2020
According to the National Safety Council, an American worker is injured on the job every seven seconds. To improve this statistic, Kevin Lombardo of DORN Companies has written about three safety trends in the workplace. The post is at...
Read MoreTop Cyber Threats in 2020 & How To Prepare For Them
Every 39 seconds. That's how often a cyber attack happens. Experts warn that threats are increasing in sophistication, frequency, diversity, scale and scope. Despite all of the publicity about high profile cyber attacks, according to...
Read MoreSmall and Medium Enterprises Are Most Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks
It cannot be stressed too often that while cyber attacks on major companies get headlines it is the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are most at risk. SMEs are vulnerable for many reasons: Lack of sufficient security in place,...
Read MoreIs Your Computer System Covered for Physical Loss from Hackers?
A post on the Bank Info Security website goes beyond insurance for ransomware. A ruling by a U. S. District Court judge in Maryland found that damage to a company's computer infrastructure from a ransomware attack was "physical loss or...
Read MoreCoronavirus Insurance and Risk Management
The coronavirus has been declared a world health emergency. As of February 4 there were over 17,000 confirmed cases mostly in China but spreading to 23 other countries. Besides the cost in illness and death, there are questions...
Read MoreCyber Risk Management for Vendors
Businesses depend on third parties for services and technologies, and computer systems are no exception. Almost 80% of businesses use at least one cloud-based application, according to a post by Steve Driz on Peerlyst. Reliance on...
Read More100 Seconds to Midnight
Insurance Journal reports that The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has reset their "Doomsday Clock" to 100 seconds to midnight. (The post is at https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/ 2020/01/23/556256.htm.)
Read MoreThe Cost of Natural Disasters
According to insurance broker Aon pic's 2019 annual weather, climate and catastrophe report, the economic cost of natural disasters globally was $2.98 trillion between 2010 and 2019. This was $1.19 trillion higher than 2000-2009. The...
Read MoreSteps Toward Greater Cyber Security
Small and mid-size businesses are most likely to be at risk from cyber attacks, as they may lack knowledge or awareness of their risk and cannot afford expert advice. Fortunately, you do not need to be an expert to take basic steps to...
Read MoreCyber Security Audits
According to a post on the Cyber Security Intelligence website (https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/the-scope-of-a-cyber-security-audit-4734.html) most cyber breaches occur because of a false sense of security. A company may...
Read More"Silent Cyber" and the Risk of Coverage Gaps
As Cyber insurance becomes more widespread, insurers are addressing "silent cyber" - traditional policies that do not explicitly exclude cyber risks but were not intended to cover them. Today virtually all General Liability policies...
Read MoreCyber Security Risks in 2020, and How to Combat Them
As I was stuck in rush hour traffic this morning I thought of a joke: "As I was walking along sad and dejected, a voice said 'Cheer up! Things could be worse'. So I cheered up and sure enough things got worse." If you were dejected by...
Read MoreBitcoin and Blockchain: A Decade of Highs and Lows
The first Bitcoin exchange was established in 2010, and the word "blockchain" was first used in the same year. In recognition of the ten year anniversary, the Blockchain Council published a look back at the decade (at https://www...
Read MoreTop Occupational Safety and Health Issues in 2020
Heading into 2020, Guy Burdick of EHS Management discussed the top issues affecting the workplace. Here are a few that we felt were worth sharing...
Read More4 Ways to Improve Your Company's Property & Casualty Renewal
Thoroughly reviewing your Property & Casualty Insurance policies and premiums can be a cumbersome process. But, while a seemingly exhausting obligation inherent to running a business, doing so this year could potentially save you thousands.
Read MoreEverything employers need to know about 2019 ACA Reporting
With 2019 in the books, now is the time to focus on 2019 ACA Reporting for the IRS. As it stands, the ACA remains intact for 2019 as it relates to employers. So, what does that mean for you as an employer? Here’s what you need to...
Read MoreThe Insurance Market is Hardening: What Does That Mean For You?
For some time we have been seeing higher prices and more coverage restrictions to an extent that hasn't happened since the hard market of the 1980s. A recent report by insurance broker USI Insurance Services originally published by...
Read MoreReview Employee Access to Reduce Cyber Risk
In addition to protecting computer systems against outside hackers, organizations must also guard against internal security breaches.
Read MoreDigital Transformation Brings Increased Cyber Risk for 2020
According to a LinkedIn post by Steve King, director of cybersecurity services at Information Security Media Group, we can expect a dramatic increase in cybersecurity breaches in the first quarter of 2020. In making this prediction,...
Read MoreDealing With Disruptive Risks
This is an adaptation of a post by Bleu Azur Consulting (https://bleu-azur-consulting.eu/2019/12/22/an-animal-kingdom-of-disruptive-risks-how-boards-can-oversee-black-swans-gray-rhinos-and-white-elepha...). The post was directed at...
Read MoreCyber Attacks: What to Expect in 2020
To readers who were overwhelmed by the multitude of cyber attack news in 2019, be forewarned. According to Amanda Finch, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Information Security, "...the biggest attack of 2020... has almost certainly...
Read MoreAs Ransomware Risk Grows, Limits May Shrink
Insurance companies have noted that ransomware continues to increase in frequency and severity. Ransomware-as-a-service makes it easier from criminals to use, and some are sophisticated enough to hack companies' financial information...
Read More"Cybersecurity is a Team Sport"
This quote by Allison Cerra, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of cybersecurity firm McAfee stood out in a post on "Creating A Cyber Incident Response Policy" on the Cyber Security Intelligence website. The complete...
Read MoreProtect Yourself Against Business Email Compromise
You have probably seen variations of this post before, but as long as people fall victim to email scams it bears repeating. As posted by Adams and Reese LLP (https://www.adamsandreese...
Read MoreKey Trends in Risk and Response
A recent post by Katie Dwyer on riskandinsurance.com details the trends changing the risk environment today. For businesses it is now a question of when, rather than if, there will be a significant disruption that in a worst case...
Read MoreGuidelines for Employee Termination
Firing an employee, whether or not for cause, is never pleasant. For problem employees, firing may be the only solution but if not done properly can result in an expensive lawsuit. (Violent retaliation by terminated employees is a...
Read MoreDon’t Put Your Digital Information at Risk While Traveling
In a survey by Morning Consult on behalf of IBM Security (posted at https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2019/05/24/travel-cyber-risks/) 70% of respondents said they put at least some effort into protecting their digital information while...
Read MoreWho’s In Your Wallet? The Capital One Data Breach
The data breach at Capital One, while affecting a large number of individuals (100 million in the United States, 6 million in Canada) so far seems to be having limited consequences for consumers. The attack was the work of one...
Read MoreRisk Management is About Making Decisions
According to Norman Marks, an authority on corporate governance, risk management and internal audit, how a company makes decisions is at the heart of effective risk management. Whether an organization is large or small, whether...
Read MoreCoinsurance
Acknowledgement: This blog is based on a post by Bill Wilson, https://insurancecommentary.com/how-to-explain-coinsurance-to-clients/. Going back to the 19th Century, most property policies have a requirement that insurance limits be at...
Read MoreHow To Utilize Medical Benefits To Attract and Retain Talented Employees
The following is written by Elizabeth Alcamo, CEBS who is a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist at The Beacon Group of Companies. A challenge many employers across all industries face is attracting the right talent. With health care...
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