Often called the “wild west,” the cyber insurance marketplace offers a wide variety of policy forms that vary drastically in the scope of coverage provided.  This is further compounded by the relatively small amount of case law analyzing cyber policies and the quickly-evolving cyber risks that companies face.  Insurers are quick to deny coverage based on the many exclusions in cyber policies, often leaving policyholders with the option of either spending money to fight their…

Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides that No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation. 42 U.S.C. Section 12182(a). What about a website? Is that a “place of public accommodation”? The…

Despite the increase in data breaches and cyberattacks involving large corporations, efforts to hold directors and officers personally liable for these events have largely been unsuccessful. However, recent developments in two high-profile data breach cases suggest that the relative safety directors and officers have previously experienced from cybersecurity-related suits may be coming to an end. On January 4, 2019, the Superior Court of California approved a $29 million settlement in consolidated derivative litigation brought against…

Selecting an appropriate cyber insurance policy can seem daunting. There are a number of different cyber events that have the possibility to impact businesses differently based on a number of factors, including the company’s network design and cyber security readiness. The market for cyber insurance policies does not have a widely-accepted form that is predominantly used by carriers, brokers, or policyholders, resulting in approximately 70 carriers drafting their own cyber insurance policies, many of which…

Social engineering and electronic impersonation scams have increased in recent years, as have cases involving resulting claims for insurance coverage. Claims typically involve the impersonation of a company executive, employee, or client and a fraudulent electronic communication directing an employee of the policyholder to transfer funds to another account. As outlined in our update of November 8, 2017, courts differ significantly as to whether or not this situation triggers coverage under a standard crime policy…

The recent series of significant hacks to Marriott, Target, Anthem, Home Depot, and other businesses make it clear that there is now another inevitable event to add to death and taxes, namely intrusions to businesses’ on-line databases of their customers’ personal information. These intrusions include outside vigilante hackers who are simply trying to sell their services and then try to incite the government or private plaintiffs to assert damage claims against…