Cyber attacks are more than just a buzzword, or something large corporations should worry about. 1 in 4 Canadian businesses of all sizes were hit with an attempted cyber attack in 2021. 

Let our team match you with the right preventative coverage to make sure your business can respond effectively and appropriately should you fall victim to a cyber attack.

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What Is Cyber Insurance?

Cyber insurance helps protect your business from losses incurred because of cyber crimes such as data breaches and cyber attacks. It can help you mitigate risks from internet-based threats that can affect your business’s IT infrastructure or other related systems not covered by other insurance products.

Cyber insurance helps businesses manage and recover from these threats, ensuring they can continue operations without crippling financial losses. 

What Does Cyber Insurance Cover?

As every business is unique, so are cyber insurance policies. But they can help businesses recover costs from:

  • Refunds to customers affected by attacks on your business
  • Lost income due to business interruption during cyber incidents 
  • Data recovery costs such as retrieving stolen data or digital assets
  • Repairing damaged computers or other systems your business relies on
  • Legal fees and services such as investigations and claim settlement expenses
  • Regulatory fines, penalties, or sanctions your business is legally responsible for
  • Crisis management, including communications with customers, stakeholders, or public relations


Additionally, cyber insurance does not cover:

  • Purposefully illegal or criminal acts
  • Poor security protocols or mishandling of digital assets
  • Human error or attacks carried out by an employee

Does Your Company Need Cyber Insurance?

Any business that operates in the digital space or provides cyber-related services or products could benefit by having cyber liability and data breach insurance. Not having insurance puts your entire business at risk and may cost you your business should you be the victim of a cyber attack.

Another factor to consider is whether you maintain personal information of your customers or clients. For example, if you’re a retail store that processes customers' credit card numbers or a financial firm that maintains clients’ banking information. The more data you collect, the more risky a cyber event is for your business.

How Much Does Cyber Insurance Cost?

Like many insurance policies, the cost of cyber coverage has a lot to do with the size of your business and the safeguards you have in place. The cost of your policy will depend on factors like:

Frequently Asked Questions

What is not covered by cyber insurance?

Like most insurance policies, cyber insurance does not cover willful acts of negligence or criminal intent. Additionally, security breaches or cyber attacks that are caused by your own employees are not covered. 

Does my business have to have cyber insurance in Canada?

Legally, no, you are not required to have a cyber policy in Canada. But keep in mind cyber attacks are on the rise, and not having insurance in place can leave you at risk.

Does having insurance mean I don’t need cyber protection?

Cyber insurance should be a part of your overall cyber risk management — it is not a replacement for security processes or other protections. 

In fact, not having effective cybersecurity measures in place may lead to higher premiums or even disqualify you from obtaining insurance altogether.

Can cyber insurance help pay regulatory fines and penalties?

The short answer is, yes, your policy may help you pay regulatory fines or penalties you incur because of a data breach. 

Does insurance cover me from cyber extortion?

Like many cyber crimes, extortion cases are on the rise throughout Canada. Also known as ransomware attacks, these crimes involve bad actors holding your data hostage in return for a ransom of some kind. 

Unfortunately, insurance policies don’t often cover this kind of attack. The primary reason is the difficulty in proving that an outside party and not an employee or other internal negligence caused the ransomware attacks.