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How To Protect Your Ohio Food Company’s Supply Chain From Cyber Risk

 

There’s a [fairly] new, emerging risk barreling down the food supply chain.

It’s cyber risk.

And if you’re a business owner or senior executive in the food industry, you’re probably fearing the reality of cyber threat as each day passes.

Technology continues to advance by the nanosecond, and cyber risk is running parallel.

As a Certified Risk Advisor and Food Recall Protection Specialist, I simply cannot stand back and wait for the next cyber attack to happen to an Ohio food company’s supply chain.

Technology is hitting the food industry hard.

It’s changing the way you operate your business and challenging you to stay relevant to the consumer eye.

It’s pushing your Ohio food company to adopt and adapt to the latest technological innovations – and while doing so, it’s putting you in a very risky position.

Did you know that technology is among one of the top trends for the food industry in 2018?

Revenue impact research and advisory firm, MarketsandMarkets (MnM) recently released their prediction that automation and robotics will gain mass adoption in many food processing plants, with the food robotics market projected to grow by 12 percent just this year.

If not today, by tomorrow nearly every step of the food supply chain will be utilizing technology in some capacity, whether it be a smart device or a sensor that is reporting data back to a centralized control system.

It’s cool… right?

It improves efficiencies and benefits the bottom line.

But it also poses significant and costly risk.

Cyber criminals have their pulse on the latest innovations and seek every opportunity to hack your system. And they can do it quickly and discreetly.

Someone with malicious intent now has the capability to hack any component of the food supply chain – whether it be manipulating ingredients, controlling refrigerator temperatures, rerouting deliveries or cancelling shipments to your largest consumer, to name a few…

So what can you do to protect your Ohio food company from a cyber attack?

Transfer your risk to a cyber liability insurance policy.

Today, no company is immune to the impact of cyber risk. As  a result, cyber liability insurance is essential!

A cyber liability insurance policy is tailored to meet your Ohio food company’s specific needs, and can offer a number of important benefits, including the following:

  • Data breach coverage, which covers your Ohio food company’s overall data breach costs including notifying all affected parties, security fixes and identity theft protection for those impacted by the breach.
  • Business interruption loss reimbursement, which covers your loss income during business interruptions (IT failure, for example) along with any increased costs to your business operations after a cyber attack.
  • Cyber extortion defense, which helps your business recoup losses related to cyber extortion.
  • Forensic support, which reimburses you for costs related to your investigation, reimbursement for cyber specialists and expert advice.
  • Legal support, which helps your company pay for legal assistance following the cyber hack.
  • Coverage beyond a general liability policy with supplemental cyber coverage to provide your company with peace of mind that, in the event of an attack, your Ohio food company’s financial and reputational well-being is protected.

So here’s the bottom line…

Cyber exposures will continue to rise.

And it’s your job to stay up to date on the evolving threats to your IT infrastructure and data.

The constant stream of information on cyber risk can be overwhelming.

But by employing cyber risk management and supply chain management strategies, and then being proactive in securing the right cyber liability insurance policy – you are doing your job at protecting your company against the threat of a cyber crime.

Next step:

As a Risk Advisor and Food Recall Protection Specialist, it’s my job to educate you on the latest evolving cyber threats, and to help you transfer your risk.

So let’s work together.

Let’s secure the right cyber protection for your Ohio food company.

In addition, let’s design for you a comprehensive cyber risk management and supply chain risk management program that includes notification of emerging trends in the cyber risk space.

Call me at (330) 334-1561 or email me at ptoneill@oneillinsurance.com to get started.

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This article was adapted from Zywave. This is not intended to be exhaustive nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. Readers should contact legal counsel or an insurance professional for appropriate advice.