Shall we play a game? Imagine you arrive at work in the morning to find the building locked up just as you left it. Everything appears normal until IT notifies you that your business has been the victim of a cyberattack overnight and all of your company’s files have been compromised. What do you do? Your first call would be to the police, but what about that second call? You want to call your insurance agent, but do you have coverage?

It has been said that there are two types of businesses in the world: those that have been the victim of a cyberattack and those that don’t know they have been the victims of a cyberattack. Recent studies have shown that more than 40 million cyberattacks took place in 2014. Not surprisingly, cyberattacks occur more frequently in the U.S. than any other country in the world. Of the cyberattacks that occurred in the U.S., nearly a third were on private businesses.

Simply taking measures to prevent a breach by increasing the security surrounding your computer system is only the first step. You also must have a plan in the event that an attack succeeds. To that end, it would be wise to look into protection in the form of a cyber-liability policy. A cyber-liability policy covers a business’s liability for a data breach in which the business customers’ personal information, such as Social Security or credit card numbers, is compromised or stolen by a hacker or other criminal who has gained access to the business’s computer systems. The policies also cover a variety of expenses associated with data breaches, including: notification costs; credit monitoring; costs to defend claims by state regulators; fines and penalties; and loss resulting from identity theft.

In addition, cyber-liability policies can cover losses attributed to business interruption, data loss/destruction and cyber extortion just to name a few.

There is no place to play games when it comes to protecting your business from cyberattacks. Not having a cyber-liability policy to protect your business from cyber-crime could mean the death of it.