These days there are two kind of companies: those that have beenhacked, and those who don't yet know they've been hacked.

In 2015, the Identity Theft Resource Center tracked 781total breaches that exposed more than 169 million personal datarecords. Those Cyber crimes continue to be very costly fororganizations. The average cost of Cyber crimes grew to $15 millionin 2015, according to a recent survey conducted bythe Ponemon Institute, a privacy, data protectionand information security consulting firm. That's a 19% increaseover the previous year, and an 82% increase in the six years thesurvey has been taken.

Cyber insurance that offers comprehensive coverage and syncswith other coverages can help mitigate risk from payment cardfraud, loss of personal information, spying, malware and otherproblems.

Unfortunately, the U.S.Department of Homeland Security found that many companiesdon't take advantage of available Cyber insurance policies becausethey don't understand the risks involved in a Cyber attack anddon't understand the value of insurance coverage.

Therefore, it's important to understand the scope of a company'sCyber exposure and the myriad requirements for risk management.

Typically, Cyber security insurance is separate from generalliability and property insurance policies. The best Cyber insurancesupports a response across the entire enterprise including data andintellectual property destruction or theft, business interruption,public relations, victim notification, forensics and Cyber incidentmanagement. A well-crafted blended approach is key to addressing acompany’s total insurance needs.

As the Cyber insurance market develops, the industry isresearching potential discounts for mitigation efforts, such asadopting best security practices or using specific securitytechnologies and practices.

When it comes to Cyber insurance, don't cut corners. Seekworld-class Cyber coverage that provides financial compensation forthe various types of economic damage that may result from a databreach, but also connect with a carrier that offers robust losscontrol services to understand how to limit Cyber risk and how tosuccessfully recover from a breach.

Gary Wollenhaupt, freelance writer, Contently. You can reachWollenhaupt via e-mail at [email protected].