Pratum Blog

For years, CNET had been a trusted source for technology news. Every technology professional in the mid to late 1990’s and early 2000’s used CNET for research and downloads of utility software. Somewhere along the way CNET lost their path. I won’t go into my thoughts on their reporting of the news. I only want to caution you on the use of their download section.

Much of the software has additional bloatware, adware, spyware or other “x-ware” type of behavior bundled with it. This is concerning to me. I’ve tried to use a few utilities found there only to find tons of other things attempting to install in the background, some of them unannounced. I don’t like that.

My advice to you is to never again download a piece of software from CNET. It’s obvious that quality control or review is not a priority. It’s obvious that they are most interested in advertising or linking revenue. If you want to gamble that a download from CNET won’t lead to some malware infection be my guest. That’s a bet I’ll pass on every time.

For years, CNET had been a trusted source for technology news. Every technology professional in the mid to late 1990’s and early 2000’s used CNET for research and downloads of utility software. Somewhere along the way CNET lost their path. I won’t go into my thoughts on their reporting of the news. I only want to caution you on the use of their download section.

Much of the software has additional bloatware, adware, spyware or other “x-ware” type of behavior bundled with it. This is concerning to me. I’ve tried to use a few utilities found there only to find tons of other things attempting to install in the background, some of them unannounced. I don’t like that.

My advice to you is to never again download a piece of software from CNET. It’s obvious that quality control or review is not a priority. It’s obvious that they are most interested in advertising or linking revenue. If you want to gamble that a download from CNET won’t lead to some malware infection be my guest. That’s a bet I’ll pass on every time.

Over the past few years, insurance carriers have been taking major hits on liability claims due to security breaches because many liability policies have had at least some limited amount of cyber insurance coverage in the past.  Some carriers have even paid out claims under business interruption insurance.  I saw one claim for nearly $500,000 paid out under a business interruption policy for what amounted to a really bad virus infection.

Things are changing and you need to understand the impact on your business.  Here are a few tips:

  1. Many insurance carriers are now making stated exclusions for any cyber related information security breaches.

  2. Information security breaches are now having very strict limits placed on the coverage levels unless you have added a specific rider to include the added coverage.

  3. Cyber liability policies vary greatly between carriers.  It’s not like the more common coverages like property and casualty, life or auto. You need to shop around and have a good broker help explain the differences.

  4. Cyber liability coverage comes in many forms; Errors & Omissions (E&O), network security, information security, breach notification, intellection property loss, etc.  Make sure you get the coverage you need for the type of data as well as the type of loss.

Many brokers just don’t understand this new and complex cyber insurance market.  I understand you may trust and love your current broker.  Have them explain the coverages to you and then find someone who specializes in the cyber market and have them review it with you again.  You don’t want to have an information security breach just to find out what you thought was covered under your liability insurance isn’t covered at all.

Wednesday, January 28th is the 8th Annual Data Privacy Day led by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). On this day, consumers and businesses are reminded and encouraged to check the security of their personal information and learn how to keep it better protected. Learn more about Data Privacy Day and find out ways to protect your data: http://staysafeonline.org/dpd.

Also, don’t forget to join Data Privacy Day (@DataPrivacyDay) tomorrow on Twitter for a conversation about different topics pertaining to privacy and data stewardship. Just use the hashtag #ChatDPD.

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