Last Updated on November 4, 2025 by Joseph Davis
I was sitting with the owner of a small manufacturing supply company over near Firewheel Town Center, the rain just starting to streak down the windows of his office. He was holding a printed email, his hand steady but his voice a bit thin. “They got into my QuickBooks,” he said. “Just wired $48,000 to a vendor that doesn’t exist.” It wasn’t some sophisticated nationstate attack; one of his office managers had clicked a link in what looked like a regular shipping confirmation. That was the moment his business, a fixture in Garland for fifteen years, almost ended. And it’s the reason I’m so direct with every business owner I meet here about what cyber insurance actually covers.
Why Garland Businesses Are a Target Now
Look, Garland isn’t Silicon Valley, and that’s exactly the point. Many of the business owners I’ve worked with over the years—from the auto shops on Broadway to the distributors up near LBJ—operate on the assumption that their size makes them invisible. The truth is, it makes them a softer target. We’ve got a dense ecosystem of small to midsized businesses that form the backbone of our local economy. They handle payroll data, customer credit cards, and sensitive supply chain information every single day.
You know what’s funny? I’ve seen more attempted fraud attempts against my clients in the last two years than in the previous eight combined. It’s not just the big guys anymore. The shift to more digital operations, especially after the pandemic pushed everyone online, opened up a whole new front. And the tactics are so simple sometimes it’s frightening. A fake invoice sent to your accounts payable department. A spoofed email from the “boss” asking for an urgent gift card purchase. A compromised email thread with a client where the banking details get swapped at the last second.
What Data Breach Coverage Actually Does For You
Most people hear “cyber insurance” and think it’s just about hacking. Honestly, that’s only part of it. A good data breach policy is more like a crisis management team on speed dial. Let me break down what actually happens when you have to use it, based on the claims I’ve handled right here in Garland.
First, it pays to investigate the breach. You can’t just hope it goes away. You need forensic IT experts to figure out how they got in, what they took, and how to seal the hole. That’s easily five figures, right off the bat.
Second, it handles notification costs. If personal information is involved—and it usually is—Texas law and frankly, basic ethics, require you to tell everyone affected. That means printing and mailing letters, setting up a call center. I had a client, a small medical practice near Downtown Garland, that had to notify 2,000 patients. The postage alone was staggering.
Third, it provides credit monitoring for the victims. This is standard practice now. You offer a year or two of identity theft protection to the people whose data was exposed. It’s the right thing to do, and it helps rebuild trust.
And fourth, and this is the part many don’t think about, it covers the business interruption and the ransom. If a ransomware attack locks up your server and you can’t process orders for three days, that policy can replace your lost income. And if you decide, in consultation with law enforcement and experts, to pay the ransom to get your data back? The policy can cover that, too. It’s a horrible decision to have to make, but I’ve seen businesses faced with it.
The One Thing Most Business Owners Get Wrong
They think their general liability or commercial property policy has them covered. Wait — actually, let me rephrase that more clearly. It almost certainly does not. Those policies were written for a different era. They cover physical injuries and physical property damage. A hacker in another country stealing digital customer records doesn’t constitute “physical damage” in the eyes of most traditional policies. This is the most common and dangerous misconception I have to clear up.
The Local Garland Landscape for Cyber Risk
Serving this city for so long, you see patterns. We have a huge number of familyowned manufacturing and logistics companies. They have complex payment chains. They’re dealing with purchase orders, wire transfer instructions, and vendor details flying back and forth over email all day. It only takes one employee, maybe distracted while multitasking, to click the wrong thing.
I remember a client, a thirdgeneration owned company in the Duck Creek area, that almost fell for a phishing email because it looked exactly like it came from one of their longtime suppliers, right down to the logo and the email signature. The only thing that tipped them off was a slight change in the account number for a $25,000 payment. That one still stings to think about. They were lucky.
And then there’s the City of Garland itself. If you’ve ever had to pull a permit or check a zoning rule online, you’re interacting with municipal systems that also have to be defended. It’s a reminder that the threat is everywhere. The City of Garland’s official website has resources, but the first line of defense for your private business is your own preparedness.
What Does This Cost for a Garland Business?
I’ll be straight with you. It’s not as expensive as you probably fear, but it’s not nothing. For a typical small business here with, say, 10 employees and under $2 million in revenue, you might be looking at an annual premium between $1,200 and $3,000. It varies wildly based on your industry (retail is different from healthcare), the amount of sensitive data you handle, and your existing digital security measures.
To tell you the truth, that’s often less than the cost of a single month’s worth of coffee for the office. You’re buying a financial backstop for an event that could otherwise cost you 50 or 100 times that amount. Most business owners I work with in the North Garland corridor are spending around $1,800–$2,500 for solid coverage with a $5,000 deductible. It’s a manageable line item for the peace of mind.
Practical Steps to Take Before You Even Get a Quote
So here’s the thing. You can’t just call up and get a policy without answering some hard questions. The insurers will want to know what you’re doing to protect yourself. It’s like asking for fire insurance while storing gasoline next to a space heater. Here’s what they’ll ask about, and what you should be doing anyway:
- MultiFactor Authentication (MFA): This is nonnegotiable now. It means needing a code from your phone and your password to log into key systems like email and banking. It stops probably 80% of attacks dead in their tracks.
- Regular, OffSite Backups: If you get hit with ransomware, your best way out is to restore from a clean backup. But that backup can’t be connected to your main network, or the ransomware will encrypt that, too.
- An Employee Training Plan: Have you told your team what a phishing email looks like? Do they know not to plug in random USB drives? This is your human firewall, and in my experience, it’s the most important one.
- A Written Response Plan: Who do you call first? Your IT guy? Your lawyer? Your insurance agent? Me? Having a plan taped to the wall beats panicking in the moment.
I’ve made the mistake myself of assuming a client was already doing these basics. Now I walk them through it, step by step.
Local Options and Where to Look for Help
Based on actual local presence, here are some established providers in Garland:
Farmers Insurance The Rhea Little Agency — Serves the greater Garland area.
State Farm Agent Daryl Jackson — Located in Garland.
Allstate The Phuong Tran Agency — Serves the Garland community.
Nationwide Agent Kevin Ward — Office in the Garland area.
Anyway, the key is to work with an agent who understands the local business climate and can explain the nuances of the policy. Don’t just buy a generic product online.
You should also be aware of the broader regulatory landscape. The Texas Department of Insurance is the place to verify an agent’s license and understand your rights as a policyholder. And for very small businesses, the U.S. Small Business Administration has surprisingly good guides on cybersecurity basics.
Garland Cyber Insurance FAQ
Is cyber insurance required by law in Texas?
No, it’s not legally required like auto insurance. But if you handle any customer data or rely on your computer systems to operate, it’s as necessary as liability coverage.
Will my premium go up if I have to file a claim?
Probably, yes. Like most insurance, a claim can affect your rates at renewal. But the point of the policy is to survive an event that might otherwise shut you down. It’s a tradeoff.
What’s the single most common cyber claim you see from Garland businesses?
Funds transfer fraud, hands down. Someone impersonates a vendor or the boss and tricks an employee into wiring money to a fraudulent account. The losses are immediate and direct.
I just have a simple website, do I really need this?
If you have a website, you have an email. If you have an email, you have a risk. It’s less about the website and more about the digital doors it opens into your business.
Long story short, the question has shifted from “Can I afford cyber insurance?” to “Can I afford the $150,000 hit from a data breach without it?” The business landscape here in Garland is tough enough with supply chain issues and competition. Adding a completely preventable financial catastrophe on top of it just doesn’t make sense. If you’re running a business here, start by having a brutally honest conversation with your current insurance agent about what your policy actually excludes. You might be in for a surprise.