Medical Offices
HIPAA breach exposure
The Digital Defense
Data Breach Defense for Illinois Businesses
Data Breach Defense for the strictest privacy state in the US. Protect against BIPA lawsuits, Ransomware, and Wire Fraud—because "I'm too small to be hacked" is the most expensive myth in business.
Illinois BIPA
Class-Action Hotspot
The BIPA Trap Is Real
Illinois has the nation's strictest biometric privacy law—and trial lawyers know it. If you use a fingerprint time clock or facial recognition without proper consent forms, you face $1,000-$5,000 PER SCAN in statutory damages.
That's not per employee. That's per scan. An employee who clocks in twice a day for a year? That's 500+ potential violations—per person. Standard Cyber policies often EXCLUDE BIPA. We make sure you're actually covered.
Law Firms
Client data liability
Retail & E-commerce
Credit card PCI compliance
Software Companies
Tech E&O for code failures
Contractors
Wire fraud targets
Financial Services
Sensitive data custodians
Which Coverage Fits You?
Cyber Liability Insurance
For businesses that store any customer or employee data. This covers the costs when hackers breach your systems—forensic investigation, customer notification, credit monitoring, legal defense, and regulatory fines.
If you accept credit cards, store emails, or have employee records, you need Cyber Liability. A single breach can cost $200,000+ in response costs alone—before any lawsuits.
Policy Options We Offer
- Cyber Liability (Data Breach)
- Technology Errors & Omissions
- Social Engineering Fraud
- BIPA Defense Coverage
- Ransomware & Extortion
- Media Liability (Website Content)
Three Threats You Can't Ignore
Ransomware
It's Not Just the Ransom: Paying the hacker is only the start. If your systems are locked for 2 weeks, who pays your payroll? Your rent? Your lost contracts? Business Interruption coverage pays your ongoing expenses while you recover—often the biggest cost of an attack.
Social Engineering
The "Human Hack": Your controller gets an email from "the CEO" asking to wire $20k urgently. They do it. It's a scam. Standard Crime policies deny this claim ("Voluntary Parting" exclusion). You need a specific Social Engineering endorsement—and most policies don't include it automatically.
Tech E&O
For Software Companies: If your code has a bug that crashes your client's business, that's not a "hack"—it's negligence. Cyber won't cover it. Tech E&O covers lawsuits for "Failure to Deliver"—when your product or service doesn't perform as promised and causes financial harm to others.
Most Businesses Need Both: Cyber Liability covers attacks on YOUR systems. Tech E&O covers YOUR mistakes that hurt clients. If you're a software developer, IT consultant, or SaaS provider, you likely need both policies working together.
First Party vs. Third Party Coverage
Understanding What Gets Paid—And To Whom
First Party Coverage pays YOU for your own losses: data recovery costs, PR crisis management, customer notification expenses, business income lost while systems are down, and ransom payments. These are YOUR out-of-pocket costs after a breach.
Third Party Coverage pays OTHERS when they sue you: if a client's data gets leaked because of your negligence, their lawsuit and settlement come from Third Party coverage. This includes regulatory defense when the FTC or state AG comes calling.
First Party (Your Costs)
Forensics, notification, credit monitoring, PR, business interruption, ransom.
Third Party (Lawsuits)
Client lawsuits, regulatory fines, privacy liability, media liability.
You Need Both
A breach triggers both your costs AND potential lawsuits simultaneously.
Check Your Limits
First & Third Party often share a limit—verify you have enough for both.
The MFA Requirement: Hard Truth
No MFA = No Quote
Here's the reality: If you don't have Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) enabled on your email and remote access systems, most cyber insurance carriers will decline to quote you. It's not optional anymore—it's a baseline requirement.
Why? Over 80% of breaches start with compromised credentials. MFA stops most of them. Carriers won't insure businesses that leave the front door unlocked.
We help you prepare: Before we submit your application, we'll walk you through the IT security controls carriers require. This prevents embarrassing declinations and gets you quoted faster with better rates.
Common Carrier Requirements
- MFA on email—Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, all of them.
- MFA on remote access—VPN, RDP, remote desktop tools.
- Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR)—beyond basic antivirus.
- Regular backups—stored offline or in immutable cloud storage.
Pre-Application Checklist
Before you apply, verify:
✅ MFA enabled on all email accounts (100% of users, no exceptions)
✅ MFA on VPN/RDP for anyone accessing your network remotely
✅ EDR software installed on all endpoints (laptops, desktops, servers)
✅ Backups tested within the last 90 days and stored separately
✅ Security awareness training for employees (phishing simulations help)
Pro Tip: If you answer "No" to MFA questions, fix it before applying. A declination goes on your record and makes future applications harder.
Who Is a Target?
Not Just Tech Giants: 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses. Why? Because you have money but weaker firewalls. Hackers know Fortune 500 companies have security teams. Your 15-person accounting firm? That's the soft target they're looking for.
High-Risk Industries
Medical Offices: HIPAA-regulated data is worth $250+ per record on the dark web—10x more than credit cards.
Law Firms: You hold privileged client information. One breach exposes merger deals, litigation strategy, personal data.
Retail & Restaurants: PCI compliance failures mean fines AND lawsuits. One compromised POS system = thousands of stolen cards.
Contractors: Wire fraud is rampant in construction. Hackers intercept invoices and change bank routing numbers.
You're a Target If You Have...
- Customer email addresses
- Employee Social Security numbers
- Credit card processing
- A bank account (wire fraud target)
- Biometric time clocks (BIPA exposure)
The Notification Law
Illinois Breach Notification Requirements
Illinois law (815 ILCS 530) requires you to notify the Attorney General AND every affected customer if a data breach occurs involving personal information. That means sending individual letters to potentially thousands of people.
The costs add up fast: Legal review of notification letters. Printing and postage for thousands of mailings. Call center setup to handle panicked customers. Credit monitoring services for affected individuals. The notification costs alone can bankrupt a small firm—before any lawsuits even start.
AG Notification Required
Individual Letters
Insurance Covers 100%
Good News: Cyber Liability insurance covers ALL of these notification costs—legal fees, mailing, call centers, credit monitoring—100%. It's often the single biggest value of the policy.
Notification Cost Example
- 5,000 affected customers
- Legal review: $15,000
- Printing/postage: $8,000
- Call center (30 days): $25,000
- Credit monitoring: $50,000
- Total: ~$98,000
- Insurance pays: 100%
Additional Coverage Options
BIPA Defense
Specific endorsement for Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act exposure. Standard cyber policies often exclude it—we make sure you're covered for fingerprint and facial recognition lawsuits.
Social Engineering
Covers losses when employees are tricked into wiring funds or sharing sensitive data. Standard Crime policies exclude "voluntary parting"—this endorsement fills that gap.
Media Liability
Protects against claims of defamation, copyright infringement, or invasion of privacy arising from your website content, social media posts, or marketing materials.
Cyber Liability FAQs
Cyber Liability covers incidents where hackers attack YOUR systems—data breaches, ransomware, stolen customer information. Tech E&O covers claims where YOUR product or service fails and hurts a CLIENT—a software bug crashes their system, your IT advice causes downtime, your code doesn't work as promised. Think of it this way: Cyber = you get hacked. Tech E&O = your work product causes harm. Many technology companies need both.
Absolutely not. General Liability policies specifically exclude electronic data, cyber incidents, and privacy breaches. The ISO standard GL form has explicit exclusions for "electronic data" and "access or disclosure of confidential information." Some business owners assume their GL or BOP policy covers "everything"—it doesn't. Data breaches require a dedicated Cyber Liability policy. There is zero overlap.
Social Engineering fraud occurs when an employee is tricked—usually via email—into voluntarily transferring money or sensitive data to a criminal. The classic example: your bookkeeper receives an urgent email from "the CEO" requesting a wire transfer to a new vendor. They comply. The email was fake. Standard Crime insurance denies these claims under the "voluntary parting" exclusion because your employee willingly sent the money. Social Engineering coverage is a specific endorsement that fills this gap—and it's not automatically included in most policies. You must request it.
Yes—emphatically yes. BIPA (Biometric Information Privacy Act) is the #1 source of class-action lawsuits in Illinois. If you use fingerprint time clocks, facial recognition, or retina scanners without proper written consent AND a compliant privacy policy, you face statutory damages of $1,000-$5,000 per scan. That's not per employee—per scan. An employee clocking in twice daily for a year generates 500+ potential violations. Critical warning: Many standard Cyber policies EXCLUDE BIPA claims. You need a specific endorsement or policy that affirmatively covers biometric privacy. We verify this before binding any policy.
For small businesses with under $5 million in revenue, Cyber Liability typically costs $1,000-$5,000 annually for $1 million in coverage. Factors affecting price include: your industry (healthcare and financial services pay more), the type of data you store, your IT security controls (MFA, EDR, backups), and your claims history. Businesses with strong security controls get significantly better rates. We help you understand what carriers are looking for so you can qualify for preferred pricing.
You call the 24/7 breach hotline on your policy—immediately. The carrier assigns a "breach coach" (usually a specialized attorney) who coordinates your response. They'll bring in forensic investigators to determine what happened, PR specialists to manage communications, and notification vendors to handle customer outreach. Time is critical: the longer you wait, the worse the damage. Good policies include all these services and cover them from dollar one, without deductible for breach response.
Yes—most Cyber policies cover ransomware under "Cyber Extortion" coverage. This typically includes: the ransom payment itself (often in Bitcoin), professional negotiators who deal with hackers, forensic costs to restore systems, and business interruption losses while you're down. However, some carriers now require sub-limits on ransomware or impose coinsurance. We review these details carefully because a $1M policy with a $100K ransomware sub-limit won't help much in a major attack.
At minimum, most carriers now require: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on all email accounts and remote access (VPN, RDP); Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) software beyond basic antivirus; Regular backups stored offline or in immutable cloud storage; and Security awareness training for employees. Without MFA, many carriers will decline to quote. We walk you through these requirements before submitting applications so you don't get declined and can often help you implement missing controls.
Stop Believing You're Too Small to Be Hacked
43% of cyber attacks target small businesses. Illinois has the nation's strictest privacy laws. Get Cyber Liability coverage that protects against BIPA lawsuits, ransomware, wire fraud, and the notification costs that can bankrupt a small firm overnight.
Protecting Illinois Businesses from 3945 W Devon Avenue, Chicago