Every day we hear of a new virus going around or a large company being targeted by hackers.  Most of us think “that will never happen to me; I am just a small practice; I have a fire wall; I stay off dangerous sites; I use encryption; I password protect my important documents or I operate in the cloud so I am safe.”  We have all thought it but it is important know the facts.

• 71% of cyber breaches happen against small businesses. Hackers prey on the weak which is why the majority of data breaches occur against small businesses who do not have millions to pour into protecting their client data.  Dental practices continue to become an increased target for this very reason.
• After a breach only 6% of companies survive. 43% of companies are immediately out of business.  Another 51% permanently close after struggling to stay afloat for two years leaving only a 6% survival rate.
• On average 28,765 records are compromised per data breach. Many small businesses don’t even know they have that many records or pieces of sensitive information until it is too late and have to incur the cost to notify over 28 thousand people.  
• The average cost per record stolen is $188.  Multiply that by the average number of records compromised per breach and you see why there is only a 6% survival rate.  The duty notify, reimburse and provide credit monitoring for individuals whose information has been compromised are just some of the reasons for such a hefty price tag of almost $200 per record.  We haven’t even started talking about potential HIPAA violations.

A lost lap top, disgruntled employee, a cleaning company, an intercepted email, or lost or stolen hard copy files are all ways that a data breach could occur in additional to a hacker breaching a dental practices firewall.

It is important to review your office procedures and talk about protecting your company with cyber liability and data breach coverage to beat the odds!