The Greene County board of supervisors took a proactive stance in a dealing with a problem that boards even just 10 years ago didn’t need to think about. The board at its regular meeting Monday approved spending $1,084 a year to add cyber breach protection to the county’s existing insurance policy.
Joan St Clair of MacDonald Insurance spoke with the board Monday. MacDonald Insurance is the county’s agent for its general liability insurance through the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool (ICAP), a self-insurance pool for public entities.
County auditor Jane Heun said that cyber breaches have been “a topic of conversation in other counties.” Large breaches such as those at retailers Target and Home Depot have brought the problem to the fore. The expense just in notifying potential victims of a cyber breach is estimated at $94 to $200 per person, St Clair said.
The new insurance provides coverage for up to $250,000 per year that could be used to notify possible victims of a data breach; establish a toll free help line for victims; provide credit monitoring services for up to a year for those affected by a breach; and identity restoration services for victims.
Even rural counties are now reliant on computers for storing information in every office. Not only is identifying information such as social security numbers stored, but tax and property information and confidential health information needed for insurance purposes is stored electronically.
The cyber breach insurance does not cover the county in the event a victim takes legal action against the county; that coverage is in the existing public officials’ insurance.
“I hate it, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” said supervisor Tom Contner after the unanimous vote to approve the added insurance coverage.
