Cybersecurity: Why you need Cyber Insurance

Cyber insurance, like other kinds of liability insurance, gives organizations a variety of coverage in case of a cyber incident, breach, or specific kind of attack. Cyber insurance enables companies to transfer the cost of recovering from cyber incidents. A policy can cover the costs of damage to others, profits lost, and the cost of negotiating ransomware.

How to obtain Cyber Insurance

Your organization realizes they need cyber insurance, now what? The first task is to evaluate current security architecture and understand what’s needed to qualify for a strong cyber security policy.

The basics that an organization needs:

1. Multi-factor authentication (MFA). This identity and access management tool helps prevent credential theft and adds a layer of protection for user logins.
2. Endpoint detection and response (EDR). This monitoring tool needs human or automated responses to endpoint alerts.
3. System backups. Regular backups must occur frequently, involve encryption, remain offline, and undergo routine testing to verify their functionality.
4. Email filtering and web security. With the increasing frequency of business email compromise attacks, safeguarding email, which serves as the primary communication channel for numerous businesses and vendors, becomes imperative in defending against cybercriminals.
5. Patch management. Many attacks begin with external exposure, and, unfortunately, over half of all vulnerability-originating breaches could’ve been prevented with proper patching. Implementing a regular patch management strategy stops these threats in their tracks.
6. Incident response planning and testing. Having a strong incident response plan, and testing that plan to make sure it works, is critical for saving time, costs, and data if the worst-case scenario occurs.
7. Employee training. Users can be the first line of defense, and also a major target, when it comes to cybercrime. Building a strong culture of security awareness can prevent phishing attempts, protect credentials, and exponentially increase an organization’s overall security.
8. Limit domain privileges for accounts. If a breach occurs, lateral movement can be an organization’s worst fear. By limiting how users can move through the environment, and what they can access, a business is also limiting how a hacker could move through the system if they were to gain access through credential theft or another method.

Why you need Cyber Insurance

Implementing and managing these measures is a substantial undertaking for any organization, requiring resources and budget considerations. So, why invest in all of this just to secure insurance? Here’s why:

• Risk Transfer: cyber insurance helps transfer risk, so the business does not assume ALL cyber risk
• Growth and Security: it helps the organization grow as they accept the challenge to make positive changes and further their security journey
• Secure Value Enhancement: a secure business holds greater value for customers, partners, and the market.
• Resource Access: it connects organizations with risk mitigation experts and resources.
• Incident Response Framework: cyber insurance provides a structured approach to handling incidents.

While cyber insurance doesn’t eliminate risk entirely, it serves as a safety net, ensuring business resilience when facing cyber threats.

How to obtain insurance

Now that the benefits and requirements are understood, the remaining piece of the puzzle is to actually purchase insurance. Every policy, every business, and every risk factor are different, so working with a broker is critical in choosing the right policy for achieving specific security and business goals.

Improve your insurability with Axians.

As a trusted IT partner, we gladly help you with the right tools to improve your insurability. In partnership with Arctic Wolf, we help you to make your organization more cybersecure. Contact us for more information!