IDT911 (Identity Theft 911) has become the vendor of choice for data-breach avoidance and remediation services for the ISO Businessowners Program, ISO said Wednesday, announcing a strategic collaboration between the two firms.

The BOP program provides broad property and liability coverage for small and midsize businesses.

ISO said that it filed an optional businessowners cyber insurance endorsement on a multistate basis this month for a March 2015 implementation date.

ISO said the collaboration will provide a more complete picture of cyber risk, including a better understanding of the cost of data breaches. Businessowner customers will receive discounts on a comprehensive suite of services from IDT911, a consultative provider of identity and data risk management, resolution, and education services currently serving more than 600,000 businesses in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

“Cyber risk is no longer an emerging threat—it’s a reality that businesses face every day,” Shawn Dougherty, assistant vice president of specialty commercial lines at ISO, said in a statement. ISO’s alliance with IDT911 will give insurers writing businessowners coverage access to the services and information they need to help customers manage cyber risk, he said.

Matt Cullina, CEO of IDT911, commented: “The ramifications of a breach can haunt companies and their customers for years with reputational damage to the company’s brand, potential costly litigation, and legal issues and expenses. Cyber insurance alone is no longer enough protection from these ever-evolving cyber threats. We’re pleased ISO has chosen us as their businessowners vendor of choice to offer breach expertise to their member companies.”

ISO’s cyber insurance policies allow insurers to tailor coverage for their customers by offering set packages that protect against the most common cyber exposures, including data breaches, data replacement and restoration, cyber extortion, and business interruption, according to the statement.

Source: ISO, a member of the Verisk Insurance Solutions group at Verisk Analytics