Why your small business needs an AI policy
Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming a part of everyday operations for small businesses across Canada—from automating customer service responses to analyzing data and streamlining
Cyber Risk Insurance
As technology advances, cyber risks grow. No business is immune to the threat of cyber attacks – let our industry expertise, preferred brokers, and tailored insurance coverage help protect your company from digital disaster.
Our cyber insurance solution has been recognized with the 5-star Cyber award by Insurance Business Canada Magazine in 2026.
Our cyber insurance solution has been recognized with the 5-star Cyber award by Insurance Business Canada Magazine in 2026.
What is cyber insurance?
In the digital age, it becomes necessary to broaden your business coverage to protect your bottom line and your reputation. Cyber insurance is designed to support your business if computer networks are breached, causing information to be stolen or ransomed, business operations to be interrupted or computer systems to be corrupted. Cyber risks can also make your business more vulnerable to lawsuits from customers or to fines from regulators.
Cyber risk coverage can involve things like:
- Business interruption
- Computer malware
- Stolen information
- Fines from privacy regulators
- Fines or assessment from the payment card industry
Cyber insurance doesn’t stop at the event, because consequences can stretch on for much longer. Aside from regaining access or recovering lost information, your business may need to deal with things like network repair, legal claims, and public relations services to help restore your reputation and rebuild trust among customers. Getting things back on track can take days, weeks, or months.
What exactly is “hacking”?
You’ve heard the term before, but what does it really mean? Hacking is a type of criminal behaviour that can prey on a computer system or network in a few distinct ways. Consider the following realities of cybercriminal activity today and scenarios where a cyberattack could endanger your business. However, this isn’t an exhaustive list of risks and targets.
Human
An employee or insider who physically removes or copies personally identifiable information to sell to third parties.
Who needs cyber insurance?
If you handle information to facilitate, record, and process transactions, this data is likely vulnerable. A business doesn’t need to be rooted in the tech sphere to be prone to cyber attacks – any business is exposed to cyber risk.
Even if you’re not handling or transmitting information electronically, your business could still be at risk of an information breach in the event of loss of paper files.
Hacks of big companies tend to make the headlines, but small and mid-size businesses are equally prone to cyber attacks.
Cyber incidents impact companies across all industries, and they can take a variety of avenues. Through malicious emails, cyber criminals can try accessing your system, and once they’re in, they can unleash malware, ransomware, and other malicious programs to cause trouble.
All it takes is one targeted attack to sideline your business. Even if you manage to get back up and running quickly, expect to face costly consequences.
In contrast to cryptojacking (where criminals mine a device for cryptocurrency), formjacking plants malicious code on a retail website to grab the credit card details of shoppers.
Small and large companies alike can be prime targets, and you might be surprised at the amount at risk. Since this type of cyber attack is a serious threat for both businesses and consumers, people on either side of a transaction need to be wary.
Did you know?
You have a responsibility to deal with a cyber attack quickly. If you fail to comply with Canada’s mandatory privacy breach reporting and record keeping laws, you could face fines.
When would cyber insurance come into play?
Here are some circumstances where you might find cyber insurance useful:
Consider a mid-sized manufacturing business that relies on multiple computer systems to organize their metal parts manufacturing operations. A cyber criminal managed to introduce malware to all the systems, forcing the company’s IT department to spend days recovering electronic data from corrupted storage devices and repairing the computer systems to continue operations.
Each day that the business is closed is a day of lost income. One malware attack could lead to an expensive loss encompassing cost of forensic investigation, legal expenses, business income loss, and even litigation from customers.
Cyber attacks come in all sorts of forms. If a small professional services company was hit with a denial of service (DoS) attack, a method which hackers use to make a machine or network resource unavailable to the user or owner, they may have to shut down operations for a while for repairs. In this case, the work related to fixing the software would be covered by cyber risk insurance.
How can we help?
Keeping your guard up can be a full-time job, but we can help ease the burden with smart and focused cyber support. From ransomware to data stolen from lost devices, we’ve got you covered with first-party* and third-party** cyber coverage, plus protection for the data stored on your system or on another system – no matter where in the world it’s located. Need a special solution? Our standard solution will suit most small and mid-size businesses, but a larger operation might require our tailored custom solutions for businesses like these.
Prepare adequately and recover rapidly in case of an attack with Cyber Assist – at no additional cost!
Northbridge Insurance Cyber Risk policyholders can make use of Cyber Assist*** services. Cyber Assist provides consultation on proactive measures customers can take to protect their data, as well as reactive assistance in the event of a privacy breach or cyber incident.
What can a broker do for me?
An insurance broker can be your greatest asset when it comes to finding the right insurance policy. A broker brings a wealth of insurance expertise, product knowledge, and personalized service to the table, working to protect your company and your peace of mind.
Northbridge believes in the power of strong partnerships. Our preferred network of reputable brokers can help craft a comprehensive policy that’s suited to your unique business.
Are you managing your risk?
Risk is a part of life – risk management should be, too. It can be challenging to make space for risk mitigation in your daily routine, but this is a corner that shouldn’t be cut. After all, even if you have the right insurance coverage, preventing a loss is always better than recovering from one.
Risk management solutions can be as simple as improving the layout of your workspace, or as involved as launching a company-wide training program. Our Risk Services experts can help with both. In fact, we’ve made access to risk management expertise a fundamental feature in every commercial insurance policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cyber insurance is designed to help businesses respond to the financial and operational impacts of cyber incidents. This can include stolen information, ransomware, business interruption, network breaches, or corrupted computer systems. Coverage may also help organizations address certain legal, regulatory, and reputational consequences following a cyber incident.
As businesses increasingly rely on technology to store information and conduct operations, cyber threats can affect both day-to-day activities and long-term business resilience. Cyber insurance can help organizations prepare for and respond to the consequences of a cyberattack or data breach.
Any business that collects, stores, processes, or transmits information may be exposed to cyber risk. Cyber threats can affect organizations of all sizes and across all industries, including businesses that do not consider themselves technology-focused.
Yes. While cyber incidents involving large organizations often attract media attention, small and mid-sized businesses can also be targets of cyberattacks. A single incident can disrupt operations, affect revenue, and create additional recovery costs.
Cyber risks can take many forms, including malware, ransomware, stolen information, business interruption, unauthorized access to systems, and privacy breaches. Threats can originate from external attackers or from individuals with access to business information.
Cyber insurance may help support businesses when a cyber incident disrupts normal operations. A cyberattack can affect productivity, revenue, customer service, and access to critical systems. Coverage is subject to policy terms, conditions, and limits.
Cyber insurance may help businesses respond to ransomware and other cyber incidents. Depending on the circumstances and coverage purchased, support may include incident response, recovery activities, and other expenses related to a covered loss. Coverage is subject to policy terms and conditions.
First-party cyber coverage is designed to address consequences that directly affect a business, including certain costs related to incident response, business interruption, data recovery, and cyber extortion events. Coverage is subject to policy terms and conditions.
Third-party cyber coverage is designed to address certain costs associated with claims or impacts affecting others, such as customers or other third parties. This may include cyber liability, privacy liability, regulatory expenses, and payment card industry (PCI) assessments, subject to policy terms and conditions.
Cyber Assist is a service available to Northbridge Insurance Cyber Risk policyholders that provides support before and after a cyber incident. It includes consultation on proactive cyber risk measures as well as assistance following certain cyber or privacy-related events. Cyber Assist is provided by an independent third-party service provider.
Yes. An insurance broker can help businesses understand cyber risks, compare available coverage options, and identify solutions that align with their operations, industry, and risk profile.
No. Cyber insurance and cybersecurity work together. Risk management, employee awareness, security controls, and incident response planning can all play an important role in reducing cyber risk and strengthening business resilience.
Resources for Cyber Risk
Ransomware in Canada: What it means for your business
Ransomware has evolved into one of the most significant cyber threats facing Canadian businesses today. What was once primarily a disruption tactic has grown into something far more
Why does a data management policy matter for your small business?
Running a small business today means that you rely on data to operate, serve customers, and make decisions. From customer contact information and payment details
*First-party cyber coverage: covers consequences that impact your business operations, including expenses related to incident response, data recovery, bricking, business interruption, and extortion.
**Third-party cyber coverage: covers consequences that impact a third-party (such as customers), including costs related to cyber and privacy liability, media liability, regulatory expenses and PCI (payment card) assessments.
***Cyber Assist is provided by an independent third-party service provider. Services are not included in any cyber extension or endorsements.