Welcome to Week 4 of Cybersecurity Awareness Month! As we continue to focus on protecting your digital assets, it’s time to discuss one of the most effective methods to secure your accounts—Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). By adding multiple layers of defense, MFA helps to ensure that only authorized users can access your sensitive data.

What Is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)?

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a security measure that requires users to provide two or more verification steps to access an account. Think of it as an extra lock on your digital door. Even if a hacker manages to steal your password, they still need to pass through another security checkpoint to gain access.

How Does MFA Work?

MFA typically comes into play after you’ve entered your password. To complete the login process, you’ll need to provide additional proof of identity. Here are some common types of MFA verification methods:

• An extra PIN: A four- to six-digit code that you must enter in addition to your password.
• Security questions: Pre-set questions that only you should be able to answer, like your mother’s maiden name or the name of your first pet.
• Code sent via email or text: A temporary code is sent to your phone or email, which you must enter to proceed.
• Biometric scan: This could be a fingerprint, facial recognition, or even voice recognition, ensuring that only you can access your account.
• Authenticator app: These apps generate a unique number every 30 seconds, which you use to verify your identity.
• Secure token: A physical device like a key fob that generates a code, providing an extra layer of security.

Why Should You Use MFA?

In a world where cyber threats are constantly evolving, relying solely on passwords is no longer enough. MFA significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access by adding an additional barrier that hackers must overcome. It’s especially crucial for protecting sensitive information such as financial data, client records, and other confidential materials.

By adopting MFA, businesses can ensure better data protection for their clients and themselves. This simple yet effective security measure helps prevent breaches that could lead to identity theft, financial losses, and damaged reputations.

Take Action Today to Protect Your Business

Cybersecurity is not just about having strong passwords; it’s about adding multiple layers of protection. By enabling MFA, you take a proactive step toward securing your digital environment. Start enhancing your firm’s cybersecurity with these layered defenses and stay ahead of potential threats.

And if you’re looking for additional ways to mitigate your risk, consider cyber liability insurance. It’s a crucial safeguard for businesses in today’s digital age. For more information, give us a call at 412-563-2106.

Strengthen your defenses and keep your data secure—because in the digital world, a little extra protection goes a long way.

Welcome to another exciting week of Cybersecurity Awareness Month! This week, we’re diving into the essential topic of password security. Imagine your password as your first line of defense in the courtroom of cybersecurity. It needs to be strong, unique, and hard to crack.

Why Password Strength Matters

Hackers often break into accounts by guessing or stealing weak passwords. Using the same password across multiple sites is like using the same defense strategy in every case—it makes you vulnerable. Protecting yourself starts with using strong, unique passwords.

Tips for Strong Passwords

1. Length and Complexity: Ensure your password is at least 12 characters long. Mix it up with upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special symbols.
2. Uniqueness: Each account should have a different password. This way, even if one account is compromised, others remain secure.
3. Use a Password Manager: Can’t remember all your passwords? A password manager is your best friend. It’s like having a legal assistant who organizes all your files for you. It safely stores your passwords, generates strong ones, and ensures you don’t have to memorize them all.

Our Recommendation: KeePass

Here at our office, we use KeePass. It allows you to create, save, and search for passwords easily. KeePass can help you maintain that strong defense system by managing your passwords efficiently.

Remember, protecting your accounts starts with building a robust defense. Make your password fortress unbreakable!

Stay safe and secure online, and join us next week for more cybersecurity insights!

Hey there! Since September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, it’s a great time to talk about
another essential type of coverage that often flies under the radar—legal malpractice insurance. While most of us are familiar with the importance of life insurance, especially for providing financial protection to our loved ones, legal malpractice insurance offers a different kind of security that is equally important for attorneys and their families

What is Legal Malpractice Insurance?

Legal malpractice insurance is designed to protect attorneys from claims made against them for
professional errors or negligence during their careers. While this coverage is crucial while an attorney is practicing, many overlook the lasting protection it can offer after an attorney passes away. This is where the Death Extended Reporting Period (ERP) endorsement comes into play.

What is a Death Extended Reporting Period (ERP)?

The Death ERP doesn’t offer a lump sum payout to your heirs like life insurance would. However, it
provides significant protection in the event of the insured attorney’s death. Essentially, the Death ERP covers any legal malpractice claims that arise after the attorney has passed away but stem from actions they took while alive. This coverage ensures that the deceased attorney’s estate and heirs aren’t burdened with defending against legal claims, which could otherwise cause financial and emotional strain.

How Does the Death ERP Work?

In the unfortunate event of an attorney’s death, the Death ERP automatically activates, providing
coverage for any claims that are made after the passing but are related to the attorney’s work during their lifetime. Although it doesn’t offer a direct financial benefit like life insurance, it prevents costly legal battles that could impact the estate or heirs of the deceased. Imagine the peace of mind in knowing your family is protected from future legal entanglements related to your practice, even after you’re gone.

Check Your Policy for Specifics

While most carriers include some form of Death ERP in their legal malpractice policies, the terms can vary. Some policies provide coverage only until the estate is closed, while others offer indefinite protection. It’s crucial to double-check your policy details so you know exactly what kind of protection you have in place. If you’re unsure, now is the perfect time to verify your coverage.

Why This Matters During Life Insurance Awareness Month

As you’re reviewing your life insurance needs this September, it’s a good idea to take a moment and consider the other types of protection you have in place—like legal malpractice insurance. Ensuring you have the right coverage for both life insurance and malpractice claims is a comprehensive way to protect your family, your estate, and your legacy.

Hope this helps, and remember, I’m Don I, your insurance guy!

Have any questions about the topic discussed in this video? Contact us today! 412.563.2106

Hey there, it’s Don, your insurance guy, taking a break from my desk and soaking in this cool breeze. As I was sitting here, I realized something—can you believe it’s already mid-August? September is just around the corner, bringing with it all the things we love about fall. We’re talking cooler weather, the excitement of football season, and yes, those amazing rib cook-offs. But while September brings us these enjoyable moments, it also brings something more serious that we should all take a moment to consider—Life Insurance Awareness Month.

I know, I know, death isn’t exactly the most fun topic to think about or discuss. But the reality is, it’s something that touches all of us at some point. Life Insurance Awareness Month is here to remind us to take a closer look at our life insurance needs.

So, why is this important? Well, whether you’re 25 or 75, there’s likely a reason you need life insurance. Have you recently bought a new home? Do you have young children that you want to make sure are financially protected if something happens to you? Are you and your spouse approaching retirement? Life insurance can play a crucial role in all these scenarios.

I encourage you to take just a few minutes to evaluate your current life insurance situation. Ask yourself, “Do I have life insurance? If I do, do I need more coverage, or maybe less?” It’s essential to assess your needs regularly, as life changes can significantly impact the amount of coverage that’s right for you.

If you’re unsure about what you need or if your current policy still meets your goals, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m always here to help, along with my team at the agency. Mark and I would be more than happy to sit down with you, review your options, and make sure you’re covered the way you need to be.

Thanks for taking a moment to consider this important topic. Remember, I’m Don, your insurance guy, and I’m here whenever you need to talk about your life insurance needs. Stay safe and enjoy the upcoming fall season!

The Realities of Cyber Threats

In today’s digital age, the threat of cyber theft and wire transfer fraud is more prevalent than ever. As we navigate through significant life events, such as buying a new home, it’s crucial to ensure that all aspects of the transaction are secure. This includes verifying that your wire transfers are protected by cyber insurance.

A Personal Experience from Don I.

Recently, my wife and I made the exciting decision to purchase a new home. Sitting at the closing table, a day that should have been filled with joy and celebration, I found myself distracted by a nagging concern: Does this transaction have cyber insurance coverage for wire transfers?

My wife noticed my unease and asked what was wrong. I expressed my concern to her and then to the closer, asking, “Do you have cyber insurance that covers wire transfers?” To my surprise, the closer didn’t know and had to check with a supervisor. Fortunately, they returned with confirmation that the insurance was in place, allowing me to relax and enjoy the moment.

Why Cyber Insurance Matters

The experience highlighted the importance of cyber insurance, especially in protecting against wire transfer fraud. Cyber threats are not just a distant possibility; they are real and can strike at any time, potentially turning a joyful occasion into a stressful ordeal.

Assess and Update Your Policies

Given the evolving nature of cyber threats, it’s essential to regularly assess and update your insurance policies. Here are some steps to ensure you’re adequately protected:

1. Review Your Current Coverage: Make sure to understand the specifics of your current policy. Does it cover cyber threats, including wire transfer fraud?
2. Ask Questions: Don’t hesitate to ask your insurance provider detailed questions about your coverage. If they can’t give you a clear answer, consider seeking a second opinion.
3. Stay Informed: Keep yourself updated on the latest trends in cyber threats and how they can impact your financial transactions and personal information.
4. Consult an Expert: An experienced insurance agent, like myself, can help you navigate the complexities of cyber insurance and ensure you have the right protection in place.

Final Thoughts

Buying a new home should be one of the happiest days of your life. Don’t let concerns about cyber threats dampen your joy. Take proactive steps to ensure your transactions are secure and covered by appropriate insurance.

Have any questions about the topic discussed in this article?

Contact us today at 412.563.2106 to discuss your insurance needs and ensure you’re protected against cyber threats. Remember, I’m Don I., your insurance guy, always here to help you safeguard your most valuable assets.

Spring will be here soon and usually during spring we do what is called spring clean ups or check up.  We look at the lawn mower, the weed whacker and car wash stuff all because Spring is a new start. 

In my world, the same holds true for insurance.  I like to review my policies and make sure I have what I think I have and make any tweaks that I feel are necessary to be properly insured. 

Knowing that most people renew or purchase a policy and stuff it away somewhere for the year, the spring check up might be a good idea for you.  Things I look at during my check up and you should too are:

1. Limits: are they sufficient?  Will there be enough there to protect you in the event of a claim.  Make sure you review both the per claim limit and the aggregate limit.  Aggregate being the total amount available during the policy year.

2. Deductible:  Are you comfortable with the current amount?  Will you be able to pay it when it comes time?  On paper 5 or 10k might not seem like a lot of money but during a claim sometimes money can be a little tight.  

3.  Defense costs:  How are they handled?  Are defense costs/cost of defense  included in your limits of liability or are they in addition to your limits?  If you carry lower limits, say 100k and your defense costs are included in that limit it may not take very long to go through the limit before the case is resolved.

4. Insureds: Make sure you know who actually is insured on your policy – you, your staff, independent contractors, of counsels, former employees.  It always good to know who is covered and who is not

5. Prior acts: Check and make sure that your prior acts coverage is correct.  We all know that claims can and usually do stem from professional services we performed prior to the start of your current policy period.  Make sure your policy contains prior acts coverage.

6. Effective date. Make sure your policy is current and that you didn’t miss the renewal date.  Sounds stupid but it does happen.  People just forget to renew or just put it off until it is too late.

So before you start to cut your grass or use the weed whacker make sure you have a new spark plug in place and give your LPL policy a check up too.  

At INf, we just finished recognizing the month of October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month. I hope you enjoyed the few educational videos that we were able to send your way.

Since then, a few of our clients have asked me to talk a little bit about whether a legal malpractice policy would cover a claim that was based on a cyberattack, data breach, or wire transfer fraud. So as a bonus to our October series, we’ll go over a few of these issues.

Cyberattack and Data Breach Claims

Let’s take a look at the cyberattack and data breach issues. My answer is going to be a pretty typical insurance answer in this situation—maybe. It might be covered based on the claim circumstances. My best guess is that if you submit a legal malpractice claim based on a cyberattack or data breach, it will trigger the coverage.

The carrier will review the claim issues and decide which issues are going to be covered and which issues are not going to be covered. I would believe that those issues that are typically considered legal malpractice issues are going to be covered, and those issues that are strictly considered cyber issues will not be covered. Now, your policy may have certain language that will provide a very limited amount and scope of coverage for some cyber events. So you might be able to glean a little bit of coverage out of your legal malpractice policy in that event.

Wire Transfer Fraud Claims

On the other issue of wire transfer fraud, my answer is going to be a little bit different. I don’t believe that most legal malpractice claims or most legal malpractice carriers are going to cover claims for wire transfer fraud. Most of the carriers and carrier personnel that I have spoken to believe that wire transfer fraud is theft. And a legal malpractice policy is not theft protection.

Perhaps a fidelity bond, maybe crime coverage, or a standalone cyber liability policy would be the better policy from which your coverage would come. Some legal malpractice policies even specifically exclude theft, wire transfer fraud, and bank transfer fraud.

Consider a Cyber Liability Policy

If you’re looking for coverage to replace the physical funds that are lost from a wire transfer fraud, my suggestion to you is to not depend on your legal malpractice policy to do so. I think you’ll be very disappointed. Which brings me to my last and final point: you need to seriously consider the purchase of a standalone cyber liability policy. It’s going to protect you against a host of exposures, like cyberattacks, data breaches, ransomware, phishing schemes, and so much more.

So if you really want to protect yourself, the office, and your client, the purchase of a cyber liability policy is the way to go.

These policies help protect you from the threat of hackers, data dumps, stolen passwords, ransomware attacks and more.  

It takes less than 5 minutes to fill out the application for this insurance.  Contact INF to get started at 412.563.2106.

You as lawyers have several choices when it comes to legal malpractice insurance.  My guess is all brokers selling this type of coverage will tell you that their policy or program is a good one.  But what exactly makes up a good program? 

Let me tell you what I think makes up a good program and distinguishes it from other insurance program or policies in the marketplace:

 1. A malpractice helpline or hotline for insureds.  This is important as it provides an outlet for the insureds to discuss the disciplinary or claim issue with one of their colleagues.

2. A library of risk management tools.  For example, sample copies of engagement letters, disengagement letters, samples of conflicts of interest checks and examples of docket control systems.  This can be web site based or hard copies

3. Risk Management classes and or videos that may or may not provide CLE credit

4. Comprehensive policy form that provides: full prior acts coverage, career coverage, broad definition of professional services, unlimited tail coverage endorsement and a free retirement tail when appropriate.  

5. An involved and experienced broker. Does your broker look like me, act like me, talk like me?  If not they should.  A broker is your connection to the carrier.  Likewise the broker is the carrier’s connection to you.  Education, dedication and commitment is a must. LPL is not a one size fits all, not even a one carrier fits all kind of product.

When searching for or reviewing your legal malpractice insurance program, you may not be able to secure everything I just mentioned but a good program will have most of them.

Well, welcome to July! Hard to believe July is already here. We at INtegrity First Corportation
recognize/celebrate the month of July as Legal Malpractice Insurance Awareness month.
Similar to September being Life Insurance Awareness Month and October being Cyber
Insurance Awareness Month. And what better way to kick off the month than a short
discussion on why malpractice insurance is so important. This fourth of July as we celebrate this
great nation of ours don’t be red white and blue. Be red white and insured or covered.

I personally believe that there is no better way for lawyers to protect themselves, their
practices and perhaps more importantly their clients! Everyone makes mistakes and lawyers
are not excluded from this fact. Some mistakes are small and insignificant and can be resolved
by the lawyer. Other mistakes however are more severe. They can cause harm to the client,
and affect the reputation of the lawyer. These claims/mistakes requires special expertise, legal
defense counsel and significant resources to resolve. This is where your legal malpractice
insurance coverage/program pays huge dividends.

Your coverage will provide the guidance and assistance throughout the process, provide for
defense counsel and settlement funds if needed. It also provides for a vigorous defense of you
protecting your reputation from those annoying frivolous claims that often times get filed
against you.

A good lawyers professional liability policy is worth its weight in gold! Make sure you have one!

Enter to win two FREE Steelers Tickets!

As we at Integrity First Corporation celebrate the month of July as lawyers legal malpractice insurance Awareness Month, we are honoring you, the lawyer, and offering you a chance to win two free Steelers tickets to an upcoming game during the 2023 2024 season.

Many carriers trying to be innovative or distinguish themselves in the Legal Malpractice marketplace try to add certain coverages to the policy hoping to get your business.  While any additional coverage is a good thing, sometimes the advertising and marketing of the additional coverages can cause confusion about the type and extent of the additional coverages offered.  

Some of the additional or ancillary coverages that carriers in the Legal Malpractice marketplace are marketing/providing are: Cyber Coverage, D&O Coverage, Fidelity Coverage and even some BOP coverage or business owners.  Again, the additional coverages are not bad to have but they should not be thought of as complete coverage for that type of exposure.  All of these ancillary coverages are just that – ancillary. Don’t be fooled in thinking that the ancillary coverage is all you need for those exposures.  The ancillary coverage will provide minimal coverage in terms of depth and limits.  

For a more comprehensive coverage with broad depth and adequate limits, you should consider a standalone or separate policy for each of the exposures that exist in your firm.  Although buying separate policies for cyber, business owners, and crime coverage will add to your outlay of cash it should provide adequate protection for you and the firm in the event of a claim or loss.  Notice I did not mention D&O coverage, if you sit on a non profit or for profit board you definitely need to check with that entity and confirm that they do have an inforce policy that protects you in your position as board member.  

Don’t depend on your Legal Malpractice policy to act as a cover all policy.  It’s not!  It’s great to have supplemental and ancillary coverages in the legal malpractice policy but it is a mistake to believe these types of coverage will provide the coverage needed in a claim situation.  Investigate standalone policies.