Protecting Your Information Assets

Let’s say that you manufacture an expensive and respected line of automobiles. One of your top technology assistants has come up with a revolutionary brake system that will take safety to another level. In short, your competitors will be blown away. However, two weeks later, your toughest competitor comes out with a car that has the identical system intact! Was it a leak from within or was the system stolen? You’ll never know, because the feds refuse to help you out: You failed to comply with the “trade secret” requirements of the Economic Espionage Act.

To be considered a trade secret, your company must account for six different factors. First, determine how accessible your secrets are beyond the company grounds. Second, create a log of who has access to valuable information. Third, implement information protection and safety measures. Fourth, justify the significance of this information. Fifth, record the work hours and lifeline of the information. Last, discover if third parties can obtain such information without effort.

Federal protection is the only real insurance policy against lost trade secrets. Following these six steps can help you avoid a catastrophic loss.

Is Milking Old Technology Penny-Wise?

In today’s cost-conscious business environment, squeezing that last bit of juice out of your current technology equipment and software might seem like a wise use of resources. But are you exposing yourself to business income loss risk by not investing in necessary safeguards and upgrades?

A recent Internet “worm” that brought thousands of servers and computers worldwide to a grinding halt did its damage by exploiting a vulnerability in a Microsoft server software product. But here’s the kicker: Microsoft had released an advisory about the weakness, together with a software patch sealing the vulnerability. six months before the attack! The worm was effective only because so many businesses didn’t invest the time and effort to protect their technology.

Technology can provide wondrous advantages to a business. But as technology becomes more integral to income, interruptions due to technology failure can become catastrophic. Reduce your business interruption exposures by creating a comprehensive risk management program that includes a regular review of computer effectiveness and security. If you’ve been thinking of risk management mainly as insurance and safety programs, let’s talk and see how your technology assets can be managed to prevent interruption exposure.

Preparing for the Big Shake

Property risks have had a number of challenges during the past few years; however, one exposure that continues to present problems in this tight insurance market is earthquake. Many people feel there’s little they can do to mitigate earthquake risk. Not true!

Basically, any property owner can take a risk management approach to an earthquake exposure by following these five steps:

1. Understand the risks — much work has been done recently to try to determine the probability of earthquakes. The U.S. Geologic Survey web site has a significant amount of data on information on earthquake probability estimates for most areas of the country.
    
2. Assess the acceptability of the risks — determine the economic loss associated with these risks.
    
3. Evaluate alternatives — review the alternatives to mitigate the risks. One of the most important alternatives will be adequate insurance.
    
4. Select the appropriate alternatives — since deductibles might be high, you might have to implement a loss mitigation strategy to reduce the severity potential.
    
5. Implement the chosen alternative(s) — purchase insurance as appropriate and coordinate physical changes with other management programs.

Although insurance coverage for earthquake exposures has generally increased in cost, we can help you evaluate your alternatives.

Hiring Reductions Due to Health

A sputtering economy and the current occupation of Iraq have done nothing to convince business owners to be more forward looking. In fact, these issues have put a damper on any large-scale economic upturn. Now there’s one more roadblock to recovery.

Recently, smaller companies, the backbone of any economic recovery, have been forgoing expansion plans due to the high cost of health insurance. A growing number of smaller employers have to leave jobs unfilled in order to be able to provide health coverage for current employees. As health insurance costs increase, so does the total cost of employment. As a result, companies say the additional cost of health coverage is causing them to reduce their potential hirings.

The Conference Board calls health insurance costs the largest barrier to adding workers. As a result, many small companies are looking at increasing the amount of out-of-pocket expenses that employees would be required to pay. Others are opting for adding temporary instead of permanent workers to avoid the cost of such benefits as health insurance.

Small Can Still Be Big

Small businesses often find that they fall short of qualifying for the type of benefit programs that help hire and keep the best employees. 401(k)s, group insurance, dental and vision care, disability plans, credit unions, training facilities, childcare assistance, and other programs employees value might be in reach for Fortune 500 companies, but certainly not for local business. Or are they?

Many small businesses are finding that they can gain many of these “big-company” advantages. Such alternatives as associations, purchasing groups, and outsourcing allow small employers to combine numbers and generate big clout. Creativity also helps. For example, one small business found that a major issue for its staff was having to use vacation time or sick leave to care for their sick children. The employer was able to find a local nursing service that would provide trained health workers to stay with a sick child during the day. This allowed the parent to be at work, preserving those valuable vacation days, with the peace-of-mind that their child was being well cared for. Each employee received a given number of childcare "credits" toward the service each year, with the ability to earn more as bonuses for meeting certain productivity goals. Result — a relatively inexpensive solution to a key problem and a staff grateful for such a valuable benefit.

If you’ve ever thought that employee benefits are out of your reach, give our benefit professional a call. We can explore your ideas, as well as supply a few of our own, and help you find the options available to meet your unique needs. And what better way to attract and keep the best employees than combining the personal atmosphere of a small business with “big” benefits!

What’s Extra About Extra Expense Coverage?

Many businesses have business interruption coverage to insure against the loss of income during the interruption of business following a covered event. Although there are a variety of coverages, all are designed to replace income while your business is closed.

But what about those types of businesses that don’t close as the result of an incident? Operations such as dentists, newspapers, dry-cleaners, and real estate agents all must remain open or face the prospect of going out of business altogether. These types of businesses need a different type of coverage — extra expense insurance.

This coverage is designed to reimburse you for extra expenses that must be incurred to avoid an interruption of business. The primary expenses covered would be those of moving into and renting temporary premises. Make sure you have the right coverage for your business interruption contingency plan. We’d be glad to help.

Customer Accidents:
Trouble Ahead

Accidents on your premises always present problems. However, when they involve a customer, the situation demands your utmost attention. Not only is a potential liability claim brewing, but your company’s reputation and good name might also be at stake.

Based on past experience, claims professionals recommend that you:

• Have the highest-ranking management person handle the matter personally.
   
• Be businesslike, courteous, and objective.
   
• Inspect the scene for immediate complications.
   
• Never enter into a dispute with the injured person.
   
• Never admit responsibility or mention insurance.

Care for the injured:

• Make certain that the injured person is as comfortable as possible.
   
• Arrange for prompt first aid/medical attention, as needed.
   
• Ask the injured person(s) and/or companion(s) how the accident happened.

Accident scene — after the injured person has left the building:

• Obtain the names and addresses of all witnesses.
   
• Inspect and verify the conditions where the accident occurred.
   
• Note and photograph all conditions that might have contributed to the incident.

Following these guidelines will put you in the best position to avoid a liability claim, while maintaining your company’s reputation.