Businesses are instituting widespread remote work policies and procedures to facilitate social distancing and “flatten the curve.” Enterprises simultaneously need to be mindful of increased data privacy and security risks. The risks can range from pandemic-related phishing emails to increased pressure on network architecture to well-intentioned employee shortcuts. Hackers will try to take advantage of
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Funds transfer fraud in real estate transactions has seen an explosive increase this year
By Jon Washburn & Tamara Boeck on
As a firm with a large real estate practice, we are keenly aware of the risks of wire transfer fraud in real estate transactions – which has exploded from a reported $19 Million in 2016 to almost $1 Billion in 2017.
Often this fraud is the result of the hacker compromising a legitimate email…
Hacking vs. Phishing – and Why the Difference is Important for Cyber Insurance Coverage
By Jon Washburn on
Posted in Cyber Attack, Insurance Coverage
As you work to finalize your cyber insurance riders or supplemental policies, it’s important to pay attention to the language around what is specifically covered. To ensure you’re receiving the coverage desired, the first step is to understand the difference between hacking and phishing, and how this is being applied to your policy, and to ensure the language is mutually interpreted as clearly and uniformly as possible.
Hacking is the use of exploits and vulnerabilities to gain access to and extract information from, disrupt or tamper with a computer system. Hackers break into a system and take information.
Phishing is the use of social engineering via e-mail to trick the recipient into revealing personal or confidential information, or granting access to a computer system either directly or through the installation of malicious software. Phishers convince you to let them into a system or give them information.
Why is this so important to your cyber coverage? Because there’s been some fairly significant litigation around these differences that has supported both the upholding and denial of coverage. Here are 3 examples of cases where interpretation of the rider/supplemental policy language led to litigation:
Universal American Corp. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co., 37 N.E. 3d 78 (N.Y. June 25, 2015)
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