What notaries do, and what they are exposed to, has changed over the years. A profession that was once based on paper has moved into online options. Remote online notarization (RON) and electronic document handling are now normal practice. This change brought convenience and speed. It also brought new risks that a traditional notary policy does not cover. Cyber liability insurance is the policy that answers those risks.
Notaries often talk about E&O insurance, which is a professional liability policy. Fewer notaries think about general liability and cyber liability. Some people call cyber liability by other names, such as data breach insurance or privacy liability.
Understanding the cyber risks a notary faces
Data breaches and identity theft: notaries are a target because they handle the exact personal information a criminal needs for identity theft. One breach can expose the data of hundreds or thousands of clients. That leads to financial and legal consequences.
Ransomware attacks: if you keep client data online, or even in a printed book such as a notary journal, that data is at risk.
Business email compromise: fraudsters target notaries with email scams. They try to redirect a wire transfer or interfere with a real estate transaction. If a person gets your client information, they can use it to steal funds.
Regulatory compliance: many states set strict data protection rules for notaries, and especially for notaries who handle electronic records. If you do not meet those rules, you can face fines and legal action.
What to do next
Ask for a quote that includes notary errors and omissions insurance and cyber liability insurance. Then look at how you store client data and how long you keep it. The less data you hold, the less you can lose.