According to the Keeper Security 2019 SMB Cyberthreat Study, companies with fewer than 500 employees just aren’t taking the cyber attacker threat seriously enough. Over 40% of all cyberattacks target small to medium-sized businesses according to Verizon but according to the SMB study, 66% of decisionmakers of small and medium businesses don’t believe they are likely to be targeted by cyber attackers. More than half, 60%, say they do not have a cyber attack prevention plan in place.
These companies just don’t seem to believe that the information they are guarding is valuable enough to be worth it for cyber attackers to spend their time going after. But as larger companies invest more and more into cybersecurity preventive measures, smaller companies, especially those that don’t have a cyber attack prevention plan in place to prevent data breaches become more valuable targets.
The problem is that for a small business, even one cyber-attack or data breach can sink the business. They often don’t have the resources to come back from a cyber-attack and put a better plan in place for the next time like larger companies such as Equifax can do.
Small and medium businesses have to do their best to protect themselves from cyber-attacks by mitigating and containing a data breach should one occur. Not having protection, in that case, could end up with your small business going out of business.
How can you protect your business from a cyber attack?
While the ERISA fidelity bond is required to protect the participants of the plan, it does not, however, protect YOU and your company as the fiduciary.
Colonial Surety Company is a Treasury Listed surety company providing ERISA fidelity bonds packaged with fiduciary liability insurance and cyber liability insurance. Colonial is one of the leading providers of ERISA related products, offering bonds approved by the Dept. of Labor. We make it easy to obtain your bond instantly as well as allowing you to purchase retroactive insurance for the years the plan was not previously covered.
Under ERISA, fiduciaries may be held personally liable for breaches of their responsibilities in the administration or handling of employee benefit plans. Under ERISA 410, the plan cannot relieve you of this responsibility with indemnification language, however, it specifically permits persons with personal liability to purchase Fiduciary Liability Insurance. Covering yourself with Fiduciary Liability Insurance gives you peace of mind that you are protected. Learn how to bundle your ERISA bond and fiduciary liability insurance and cyber liability insurance for a discounted rate.
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.
If you would like to learn more about purchasing an ERISA fidelity bond, or an ERISA fidelity bond package including fiduciary liability insurance or cyber liability insurance, call 888-383-3313 or email ERISADept@colonialsurety.com. Learn more about becoming a Pension Professional Partner here.