Insights

As written For NetworkWorld & CIO.com

For a more recent guide to grooming the "professional services exclusion", please see our updated article HERE

For new ventures looking to raise capital or test their market/product, crowdfunding has proven to be the go-to solution with an ease and excitement that other methods of funding lack. With that excitement though comes challenges. As a fairly young platform with a legal landscape that has yet to develop, the risks of crowdfunding are often overlooked. While the risks may seem invisible, mistakes are inevitable, as are the lawsuits and damages that follow.

When managing the risk within your organization, it is important to ask the right questions. While some companies may prefer not to focus on “what can go wrong”, successful companies understand the delicate balance of risk and opportunity. Finding the right balance between the two can improve efficiency and maximize profitability. Here are 20 questions to get your organization started:

Could your internet connected/VOIP phone system be the next target for hackers? Cyber related breaches and social engineering (otherwise known as CEO fraud) have made a lot of waves in 2015 which are expected to continue in frequency and severity into 2016. Cyber breaches are generally employed in the form of malicious code, and social engineering in the form of fraudulent emails, however, with many companies using internet connected/VOIP phones today consider the potential damage of a hacker gaining access to your phone systems. Scenarios could include:

For directors and officers considering a seat in the c-suite, the prospect of having your personal assets exposed can be a scary one. Before accepting that seat, it's important to understand how/when your assets could come into play and the scope of protection the company is affording you. Do not make the mistake of sitting on an uninsured board or thinking that a personal umbrella will provide coverage.

This may come as a surprise, but not all cyber policies provide coverage for self propagating code such as viruses, trojans or malware. While most policies today do provide coverage for such claims, some carriers' forms still contain exclusions, particularly older forms and more basic policy endorsements. This exclusion can generally be located in one of two areas.