With cyber attacks and data breaches becoming more and more commonplace, it’s become fair to ask where cybersecurity fits within the duties and responsibilities of retirement plan fiduciaries and participants
Congress has started asking the same questions. Senator Pat Murray (D-WA) and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) asked the Government Accountability Office about current protections and what should be added to the current regulatory framework. Current law states that plan fiduciaries have to design and administer the plan with the best interests of plan participants in mind, but with cyber and retirement plans, there’s no one governing regulatory framework; there is a patchwork of federal and state law governing the area.
But with cyber attacks and data breaches becoming more common, retirement plans could really be at risk. That’s why Murray and Scott are asking questions to try to figure out what we can do now and in the future to cyber theft of plan assets.
The congressmen are asking what exactly are plan fiduciaries doing and required to do to assess risks regarding cyber attacks. What steps are they taking and have they adopted appropriate measures to protect plan information and assets? And what steps should they take once a breach has occurred? They’re asking something similar of plan service providers: are they taking the necessary steps to protect the plan from cyber attacks?
It makes sense for a plan fiduciary to protect against cyber attacks and data breach with cyber liability insurance. It is recommended that you purchase Cyber Liability Insurance to protect against possible cyber attacks and data breaches as attackers become more sophisticated and find their way around current state-of-the-art protections and safeguards. Click here to learn more about cyber liability insurance and retirement plans.
So where can you easily purchase cyber liability insurance?
Colonial Surety an included cyber liability insurance endorsement for our ERISA fidelity bond packages with fiduciary liability insurance to best protect your plan against a cyber attack.
Colonial’s cyber insurance provides a services-based solution to help plan sponsors manage data breaches successfully. These services include a dedicated team of cyber breach professionals who assist plan sponsors at every stage of incident investigation and breach response. These professionals coordinate the carefully vetted forensics experts and specialized lawyers to help plan sponsors establish what’s been compromised; assess plan sponsor responsibility; and, notify those individuals affected. In addition, these services will also coordinate credit or identity monitoring, and PR advice to help the plan sponsor safeguard its reputation. Of course, Colonial’s cyber insurance also indemnifies and defends plan sponsors from covered lawsuits or regulatory actions, the risk of which may be reduced by a well-coordinated breach response, but can never be completely eliminated. The only way to fully protect against a potential cyber attack’s data breach is to purchase cyber liability insurance from Colonial Surety Company.