What You Need to Know About Cyber Insurance

Cyber insurance is critical for any business. Cyber insurance can help you in the event of an attack or data breach, helping cover the cost of legal fees, data restoration, repairing or replacing hardware, and the administrative costs associated with notifying impacted parties. Your general liability insurance doesn't extend to these incidents, so it is important to have a separate cyber insurance policy in place. While this insurance is critical, many organizations will need to put in effort to even get a policy from a provider. We've gathered some key considerations to ensure your company gets the coverage you need. 

How has insurance changed? 

We have seen a dramatic increase in cyber attacks and breaches over time. Because of this, many cyber insurance providers have made adjustments to their policies. They are requiring more proactive planning from any business looking to obtain insurance and the cost of cyber insurance has increased. Insurance providers are also asking for more from businesses after a breach occurs before they will pay for a claim. This makes it critical for any organization to have a strong cybersecurity stack in addition to insurance coverage. 

What does my organization need to do to qualify? 

While every company should have the basic protections of firewalls, spam filtering, and antivirus, there is more that your organization can do to defend against cyber criminals. Many insurers are requiring Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), VPN, and off-site or cloud-based backups to be considered for coverage. We also recommend stronger tools. Instead of relying on the filters built into your email provider we recommend using third-party tools that can more effectively block spam, phishing attacks, or spoofing attempts. We also recommend using a zero-trust security model (which we've talked about before) to reduce your vulnerability.  

Your IT provider should be able to help you get ready for insurance renewals. When you are going through the renewal process, your insurance company will also likely provide you with a list of improvements you either must make to qualify or should make to reduce the cost of your coverage. You can then work out a plan with your IT team to implement these changes before the deadline set by your insurer. If you are concerned about your security stack, need help implementing new tools, or have general questions about IT, you can contact us.