Everything You Need to Know About Cyber Insurance What it covers, what it costs and why it matters.

Q: Do I need cyber insurance for my business?

A: You must be asking because you think your business is too small to attract criminals. In fact, when it comes to cyber theft, size doesn't matter, according to Christine Marciano, president of insurance brokerage Cyber Data Risk Managers in Princeton, N.J. She says hackers are looking for businesses of any size with valuable customer data they can steal and sell on the black market.

Hence the need for cyber insurance—coverage that can include data theft or loss, network intrusions, information-security breaches and lost income due to system downtime. It's available for first- and third-party losses, which means that if your business has customer or vendor relationships and processes customer-sensitive (nonpublic) information, you need it.