Researchers for computer security firm Symantec recently placed 50 smartphones in high-traffic areas like elevators, shopping malls and public transit stops to see what happens when a “lost” smartphone is discovered. The phones were loaded with fake business and personal data and were equipped with special software that allowed Symantec to track every action the finder performed on the phone.

Despite having the owner’s contact information conspicuously displayed on the phone’s main screen, only half of the people who discovered the lost smartphone attempted to return it to its owner. What people did instead was make repeated attempts to access the data stored on the phone:

• 72 percent attempted to access an app called “Private Photos”
• 57 percent opened a file named “Saved Passwords”
• 43 percent attempted to access online banking app

Especially concerning for employers is that more than 80 percent of the time there was also an attempt to access corporate data:

• 53 percent of those who found the phone clicked on a file named “HR Salaries”
• 49 percent attempted to access an app called “Remote Admin”
• 45 percent attempted to access a corporate email client
• 40 percent clicked on a file named “HR Cases”

Regardless of whether the attempts to access proprietary data were malicious or merely the result of idle curiosity, an unsecured mobile device represents a major data security liability. Don’t wait for an incident to occur before taking action. Contact Warren G. Bender Co for more information on creating and implementing a formal policy that deals with mobile device security.

1. Investigate accidents immediately and thoroughly; take corrective action to eliminate hazards, and be aware of fraud.
2. Report all claims to your carrier immediately. Alert the carrier to any serious, potentially serious or suspect claims. Frequently monitor the status of the claim, and communicate with the adjuster to resolve them as quickly as possible.
3. Take an aggressive approach to providing light duty to all injured employees upon their release from treatment. Supervise light duty employees to ensure their conformance with restrictions.
4. In serious cases that involve lost time, communicate with the claims adjuster to demonstrate your interest in returning the injured employee back to gainful employment.
5. Set safety performance goals for those with supervisory responsibility. Success in achieving safety goals should be used as one measure during performance appraisals.
6. Develop a written safety program, and train employees in their responsibilities for safety. Incorporate a disciplinary policy into the program that holds employees accountable for breaking rules or rewards them for correctly following safety procedures.
7. Frequently communicate with employees, both formally and informally, regarding the importance of safety.
8. Make safety a priority – senior management must be visible in the safety effort and must support improvement.
9. Evaluate accident history and near-misses at least monthly. Look for trends in experience, and take corrective action on the worst problems first.
10. Hire Warren G. Bender Co to ensure success.

Originally established for the manufacturing industry, Business Interruption Insurance has evolved into an essential risk transfer tool for all industries. Coverage provides resources that aid in recovery and can help get a company back on its feet quickly.

A small business owner ‘s restaurant in Mississippi was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, leaving her with a blown-out ceiling, massive equipment damage and an unsalvageable building security system.

“The Business Interruption Insurance paid for the 23 days we were down,” Joy Hoda told the Insurance Information Institute in 2010. “Just by getting that money, it wasn’t so hard for us to make our payroll.”

It’s not to say that Joy did not sustain a loss; her Business Interruption Insurance reimbursed her for everything she would have made, minus any expenses the firm would have incurred. What the insurance allowed her to do was continue to pay her staff, meet her credit obligations and quickly reopen her business to help serve the people of her neighborhood.

Business Interruption Insurance doesn’t just assist small businesses in meeting payroll and bills during a crisis; according to data from the Institute for Business Home and Safety, 25 percent of businesses never reopen following a disaster or interruption.

For larger businesses, Business Interruption Insurance can provide employees and shareholders peace of mind. Shareholders especially like to know a business’ profits are protected in case of fire, tornado, hurricane or other disaster.

Don’t wait until your business experiences a significant loss to consider this vital business insurance protection. Contact Warren G. Bender Co. at (916) 380-5300 to review how this type of coverage can fit into your overall business insurance portfolio.

Optimism is the fuel that drives the entrepreneurial spirit, so it isn’t surprising that most small business owners consider themselves optimists. Too much optimism, however, can get a small business owner into trouble. A business plan built solely on the “best case scenario” is like a house of cards—one gust of wind (or fire or wrongful termination lawsuit) and the entire business can come crashing down. That’s why smart business owners temper their innate optimism with a healthy dose of reality. In other words, they learn to manage risk.

The first step in implementing a comprehensive risk management plan is identifying potential risks. To help you get started, we have provided a list of the top 10 threats facing small business owners. As you read through the list, consider the unique risks facing your business and ask yourself whether those risks are being managed effectively.

1. Protecting your Property

Property holdings are often a small business owner’s largest asset. Therefore, for the long-term security of your small business, it is vital that you evaluate potential threats to your property and develop a plan to manage those threats. Begin by taking a complete inventory of all your assets to determine how a loss might affect your business and how much coverage you need. Property coverage can come in many forms to suit your specific needs, but a typical policy will provide the replacement cost value for your building and the actual cash value for your business property.

You have a lot weighing on your budget already, but don’t make the mistake of planning for the “best case scenario” when it comes to your property coverage. Leaving your small business underinsured is a risk too great to take.

2. Business Interruption

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that more than 40 percent of businesses never reopen following a disaster such as a fire or flood. Is your business prepared to weather the storm if disaster strikes? If a fire causes the facility to be temporarily unusable, what would you do? Ideally, you would move to a temporary location while your permanent place of business is being repaired, but traditional Property Insurance does not cover this move or the loss of income while the permanent business location is being repaired. Ill-prepared businesses are often forced to completely shut down operations during repair, which can do irreparable damage to their brand and leave employees without work for extended periods of time. To mitigate this risk, consider adding Business Interruption coverage to your Property Insurance policy. This invaluable, though often overlooked, coverage safeguards your business by covering operating expenses and lost income while the permanent business location is being repaired. This will allow you to maintain payroll and, if needed, reallocate current employees to help with the cleanup effort.

3. Liability Losses

No matter how well you plan, running a small business can be fraught with unexpected surprises—the only way to completely avoid liability is to shutter your business. Smart business owners do the next best thing: protect their assets by carrying adequate Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance coverage. CGL policies provide coverage for claims of bodily injury or other physical injury, personal injury (libel or slander), advertising injury and property damage as a result of your products, premises or operations. A CGL policy with adequate coverage limits enables you to continue normal operations while dealing with real or fraudulent claims of negligence or wrongdoing, and also provides coverage for the cost of defending and settling claims.

4. Key Person Losses

Many small businesses are built around the talents and expertise of a few individuals. If an employee crucial to the functioning of your business departs unexpectedly due to death or injury, would day-to-day operations continue as usual or would disorder and uncertainty ensue? Would you be able to maintain your current level of performance and current revenue stream? How would you cover for the financial loss of the employee or pay for a temporary replacement during his or her recovery? Key Person Insurance can help you answer these questions with confidence. This coverage is designed to provide financial stability in a time of stress and uncertainty, allowing you to keep your business moving forward without missing a beat.

5. Injuries to Employees

Small business owners, especially those with less than 10 employees, often struggle with understanding their employee health and safety obligations. Just like their larger counterparts, small businesses have the same responsibility to indemnify workers who are injured or become ill during the course of their employment. Many businesses do not realize the full effect workplace accidents have on their organization. Beyond initial treatment costs and lost production time, on-the-job injuries have an impact on insurance premiums, which can increase your costs for years to come. Thankfully, by managing exposures and promoting safety, it is possible to control workers’ compensation premiums. Having the proper pre- and post-accident procedures in place can drastically reduce the severity of a workers’ compensation claim, and implementing a comprehensive safety program can reduce the accident rate. Together, these two steps can produce tremendous long-term savings.

6. Managing Electronic Data and Computer Resources

Small businesses often lack a formal IT department or even rudimentary internet security measures, which leaves them vulnerable to unscrupulous cybercriminals searching for an easy target. With an estimated liability of more than $200 per compromised record (multiplied by hundreds or thousands of customer records), the cost of a single data breach incident can be devastating for a small business. If your business stores customer records electronically, it is crucial that you have robust security measures in place. In addition to taking preventative measure to reduce Internet-based exposures, specialized technology coverage, such as Cyber Liability Insurance, can help protect your business against damage from cyber attacks, data breaches and other Internet-based exposures.

7. Environmental Exposures

Think of a business with significant environmental exposures. What comes to mind? Most people think of a large manufacturing, mining or petroleum operation, but these are not the only industries at risk for environmental liability losses. It is important to perform a comprehensive risk analysis to determine your own level of exposure. Keep in mind that because most commercial insurance policies contain pollution exclusions, unless you carry Environmental Insurance, you may be uninsured against significant environmental loss exposures.

8. Employment Practices

From the moment you begin the pre-hiring process until the final goodbyes at the exit interview, you are at risk for a lawsuit. In fact, three out of five employers will be sued by a prospective, current or former employee while they are in business. Although many lawsuits are groundless, defending against them is costly and time-consuming. Your business should take a hard look at whether it can afford to defend itself against accusations of wrongful employment practices. If not, there is an insurance solution called Employment Practices Liability that will protect your company against wrongful termination, discrimination (age, sex, race, disability, etc.) or sexual harassment lawsuits.

9. Contracts

When first starting out, many new business owners simply don’t have the time or expertise to adequately evaluate each clause in everything they’re signing. This oversight, however, can create major problems down the road. In many cases, small businesses become saddled with large additional risks, accepted via risk transfer from savvy suppliers or customers. While it’s tempting to shave costs by skimping on legal fees, making sure your business isn’t accepting additional and unnecessary risk can save you a lot of money over the long haul, both in legal costs and in insurance coverages.

10. Manage Your Supply Chain

Do you rely on one or more third-party suppliers to produce certain components used in your products? If you do, a disaster that interrupts your supplier’s regular business operations could have a crippling effect on your production abilities. Although you should always try to minimize potential liability through contingency planning and other risk management techniques, as supply chains grow across the globe, sometimes there is little you can do about the exposures faced by your suppliers. In a perfect world you could simply avoid doing business with companies that present numerous risks or that are unwilling to conform to your standards, but pricing constraints and niche markets limit the number of potential suppliers to choose from. Supply chain insurance is meant to cover losses you incur as a result of an interruption to your supply chain. Such coverage allows you to work confidently with suppliers who face exposures beyond your control.

Insurance is a key component of any comprehensive risk management plan, but successful risk management also involves prevention, training and contingency planning. Contact Warren G. Bender Co. at (916) 380-5300 to learn more about the tools and resources we can offer to help you manage risks, control workers’ compensation costs, advance safety and boost employee morale.

The incident, which follows in the wake of other recent high-profile data breaches at Sony and NASDAQ, highlights the growing threat of cyber crime and serves as a cautionary tale for other businesses with data security exposures. Regardless of whether the class action lawsuit is ultimately successful, Zappos faces months (or years) of bad press and significant legal costs, as well as untold damage to its reputation.

In an email to employees the day after the breach, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh wrote, “We’ve spent over 12 years building our reputation, brand, and trust with our customers. It’s painful to see us take so many steps back due to a single incident.”

Of course, as bad as the fallout from the incident has been, it could have been even worse had the company been more lax with its internal data security controls. Although hackers gained access to the Zappos customer database, they weren’t able to get their hands on the holy grail of consumer data—credit card numbers—because Zappos wisely stored credit card information on a different server than the one housing the rest of the customer data. Had the hackers accessed the credit card information, Zappos would be facing a much greater, and much more costly, public relations nightmare.

Overall, experts are divided on the effectiveness of Zappos’ actions in the immediate aftermath of the data breach. The company has garnered praise for quickly notifying customers of the breach via email, but the decision to shut down its customer service phone center and block non-U.S. customers from accessing the Zappos.com website has drawn criticism.

Ultimately, there is no perfect crisis management blueprint. That’s why it is critical that you take steps to protect your assets and reputation before a data breach incident occurs. Perform a comprehensive review of your cyber security protocols, and make sure you have adequate insurance protection. Keep in mind that most CGL policies don’t cover data breaches, so you will need to review your Cyber Liability policy limits.

Consider the following evacuation tips for a workplace emergency:

- Know the pathway to at least two alternative exits from every room or area at the workplace.

- Recognize the sounds or signaling method of the fire and evacuation alarms.

- Know who to contact in an emergency and how to contact them.

- Know how many desks or cubicles are between your workstation and two of the nearest exits so you can escape in the dark, if necessary.

- Know where the fire and evacuation alarms are located and how to use them.

- Report any damaged or malfunctioning safety systems and back-up systems to your supervisor.

Did you know??

The famous ride at Disney World, Pirates of the Caribbean, has six emergency evacuation exits, and it takes approximately 35 minutes to get all of the riders off the attraction if it breaks down.

It is important that we all do our part to prevent identity fraud and protect our clients. This includes taking security measures so that customer information is shared only with necessary parties. Unfortunately, fraud often comes from inside an organization, so it is important to be aware of security internally, as well as when dealing with people outside the company.

Computer

Your computer likely contains the most sensitive customer information. Follow these guidelines so that this information is kept secure:

- Never leave passwords where anyone can find them.

- When you step away from your computer, always “lock” the screen.

- Do not allow unauthorized persons to access your computer.

- When sending e-mail with personal data, make sure it is encrypted for security.

Customer Contact

Only gather or provide sensitive customer information through company-approved channels. Do not use personal e-mail (or if you must, be sure to encrypt the message). Follow company policies to verify the identity of the customer when giving out or changing any personal information. Use discretion when offering or receiving personal information over the phone – this is a common way for thieves to commit identity fraud.

Paperwork

When stepping away from your desk or leaving for the day, do not leave any paperwork with sensitive information lying on your desk. It should be filed in a locked drawer or cabinet. When disposing of personal information materials, use the paper shredder or secure recycling container.

Above all, be aware of the potential for identity theft when handling personal data. If you are ever suspicious of a transaction or conversation you are having, follow your instinct and pursue further verification before proceeding with the customer’s request. Talk to your supervisor if you have a question about procedure or need assistance with a particular transaction. If we all do our part, we can prevent identity fraud from occurring and protect our company and clients.

Types of Smoke Detectors

When selecting a smoke detector, keep the following in mind:

- Photoelectric units are better for smoldering fires, such as electric fires in the walls, so they are ideal for kitchens and bathrooms where these fires tend to occur.

- Ionization units give nearby air an electrical charge and then measure whether the charge stays constant or whether a fire is consuming oxygen in the air. These units are better suited to areas where fires get out of control, such as a basement near a furnace.

Testing a Smoke Detector

To ensure that smoke detectors are working properly, test them on a regular basis.To do so:

- Press the test button on the unit and wait for it to sound.

- Light a candle and hold it six inches below the detector so the heated air will rise into the detector.

- If the alarm does not sound within 20 seconds, blow out the candle and let the smoke rise.

- If the alarm still does not sound, open the detector up and clean the unit. Also make sure that all of the electrical connections are in good working order.

- Then, test the unit again. If it is still not working, replace it immediately.

Safety First

Replacing smoke detector batteries is critical to their usefulness.  A great way to remember to change your smoke detector batteries in your home is to do so twice a year during Daylight Saving Time. When you reset your clocks forward or back, also change those batteries to keep your home and your family safe!

Helping you to avoid claims is just one of the many value-added services we provide. Call us today to learn more about all of our personal risk management solutions for your auto, home and life.

Added to a Property Insurance policy or included in a Business Owner’s Insurance policy, the coverage is meant to cover lost income if the business’s primary location becomes damaged and unusable. The policy coverage is based on previous financial records and also covers the expenses of operating your business in a temporary location while repairs to the original location take place.

This coverage can be one of the most valuable protections available to businesses. However, there are numerous factors to consider to make sure that the coverage is effective for your organization.

Because Business Interruption Insurance is often written as an endorsement to a policy, it is dependent on other provisions and endorsements in that policy, such as:

-Covered cause of loss – Your initial policy must insure you against the actual cause of the interruption (i.e., fire, flood, etc.).

-Service interruption endorsement – Without this endorsement, utility service interruptions are often excluded from covered causes of loss. However, the loss could be covered if the utility failure caused another covered cause of loss, such as a fire. An endorsement can clarify and include utility service interruptions or failures.

-Multiple causes of loss – If more than one cause is the reason for the loss, both causes need to be insured against. If both causes aren’t insured against, the covered cause has to be deemed the “efficient cause,” the cause that set the other in motion, to be covered.

-Valuing the claim – Claims are valued based on past business records. If records don’t prove that the interruption caused a loss in profit that will reflect in the claim. If you lose inventory, but the inventory you still have is enough to cover projected sales, lost inventory won’t be covered under business interruption.