.jpg)
Houston’s City Council has unanimously agreed to buy cyber insurance for $471,000.
The Houston Chronicle reported that the insurance can cover up to $30 million in expenses related to data breaches – such expenses include crisis response, recovery of losses, and legal costs arising from cyberattack claims.
Insurance carriers Indian Harbor Insurance Company, Lloyd’s of London and Endurance American Insurance Company have written the insurance coverage for the city. According to city documents, Houston’s premium for September 01, 2018 to September 01, 2019 will be $471,400.
At-large councilman and chairman of the city council’s Transportation, Technology and Infrastructure committee David Robinson said that the prevalence of cybersecurity threats against city governments across America prompted Houston to purchase the insurance.
“There are those things that are just beyond the reach or scope of expected due diligence and preparation,” Robinson explained. “You need to be prepared for the unknown.”
City governments are facing more sophisticated cyberattacks and attempts to locate online scams have become more difficult, added Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool executive director Jeff Thompson.
“If you’ve got the passwords to (city) email accounts, you would have a treasure trove of information and could pretty quickly craft a sophisticated scamming scheme that looked legit,” Thompson told Houston Chronicle.
