In 2022, 490 million ransomware attacks were detected by organizations worldwide and the average data breach cost was over $4 million. The threat of cyberattacks continues to grow. To mitigate these risks, companies are increasingly turning to cyber insurance. But companies are finding that cyber insurance premiums are increasing, policies have lower coverage limits and additional exclusions, and policyholders face high rates of denied claims.
To ensure the claim is not denied in the event of a cyber incident, companies must follow the requirements set out by cyber insurance companies. Cybersecurity mandates provide a set of requirements to be followed, but verifying compliance with these mandates is challenging. The technical complexity of implementing cybersecurity measures may lead to misinterpretation of the mandates, or improper implementation. As a result, organizations may appear compliant on paper, and may believe they are secure, but remain vulnerable in practice.
To minimize exposure, cyber insurance carriers require policyholders to adhere to a nine-point cybersecurity plan.
These mandates prevent attacks by providing the highest levels of security for organizations. Attackers tend to get frustrated and move on to easier targets. However, the mandates are only effective when consistently followed.
Automated solutions, such as our Cyber Insurance Compliance Platform, enable companies to measure their security compliance, including how well they are following cyber insurance mandates. This provides real benefits to the insurance carrier and policy holder including:
Eliminating manually filling out and processing of questionnaires
Ensuring accurate data is provided to insurance companies
Detailed reporting of risk for 6 of the 9 cyber insurance mandates
Ongoing monitoring to ensure companies remain in compliance as infrastructures changes
Ensuring precise premiums based on real cyber risk data
Improving the security of policyholder’s infrastructure by providing actionable information on vulnerabilities discovered
Automated tools provide an accurate and up-to-date view of cyber risks
Automation and continuous monitoring are critical to cyber insurance risk management, for both insurance carriers and policyholders. Corporate computing infrastructure is dynamic. New applications are installed and updated, devices are added or moved, and new services are enabled on a regular basis. Any of these changes can have a dramatic impact on the organization’s risk profile.
Cyber insurance claims may be denied if your network is not in compliance when an attack occurs. Without continuous monitoring and assessment of security against cyber-insurance requirements, your organization remains at risk. Tools to automate this process, especially those with unique capabilities that find otherwise unknown vulnerabilities, are critical to the viability of your business.
If you are concerned about cyber insurance compliance, cyber attacks, data breaches, or ransomware, the best place to start is with an internal risk assessment. To learn more, email us at contact@dragonflycyber.com.
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