In a bulletin issued April 20, 2022, the FBI warns the agriculture sector that cybersecurity threats against the agriculture sector – in particular ransomware – may increase during critical planting and harvest seasons.

Cyber attacks such as data breaches and ransomware can result in devastating disruption and damage. As a result, cyber liability insurance has become an essential component to any risk management program. Cyber liability insurance policies are tailored to meet your company’s specific needs and can offer several important benefits that generally exceed those available through standard insurance coverages, including:

• Incident response costs—This coverage can help pay the costs associated with responding to a cyber incident. These costs may include utilizing IT forensics, hiring external services and restoring damaged systems.
• Cyber extortion—This coverage can help pay costs associated with hiring extortion response specialists to evaluate recovery options and negotiate ransom payment demands (if applicable) during a cyber incident.
• Business interruption loss—This coverage can help reimburse lost profits or additional costs incurred due to the unavailability of IT systems or critical data amid a cyber incident.
• Data privacy liability—This coverage can help recover the costs of dealing with third-party individuals who had their information compromised during a cyber incident. These costs include notifying impacted individuals, offering credit-watch services and providing additional compensation.
• Regulatory defense—Such coverage can help pay fines, penalties and other defense costs related to regulatory action or privacy law violations stemming from a cyber incident.

Western Growers previously conducted informational webinars regarding some aspects of cyber incidents and cyber insurance coverage. Recordings of the webinars can be made available to Western Growers Members upon request.

Western Growers Insurance Services (WGIS) is a full-service insurance brokerage offering a suite of insurance and tailored risk management solutions to agricultural and related industry members. For more information or assistance, please contact Ken Cooper, Director Risk Strategy for WGIS, at [email protected].