Cyber liability insurance is nothing new. Insurers began offering this type of digital protection years ago as PII (personally identifiable information) went from being stored in filing cabinets to floating around on the web. We recently asked cybersecurity service firm ImageQuest about how cyber insurance has changed as more and more people transition to a work-from-home environment. Here is what the company had to say.
Q: What types of businesses need cyber liability insurance?
ImageQuest: The quick answer: all of them. Any business that holds digital customer or corporate information will benefit from an insurance policy that helps cover financial losses from a breach.
Q: At the start of the pandemic, more and more people were suddenly pushed into a remote work situation. Has this affected how insurers’ view of cyber liability policies?
ImageQuest: It has, yes. More people moved to working from home, outside the security of their corporate network. Insurers saw more risk entering into corporate systems: Had an employee’s child inadvertently downloaded a malicious app disguised as a game? Was the employee working on a secure WiFi network? The risks were real – ransom payments climbed last year – and with them, ransomware claims. Now, across the board, insurers are writing new requirements that businesses must meet before obtaining or renewing a cyber liability policy. These include requiring multi-factor authentication for all users and installing software on endpoint machines to help prevent or discover a breach.
Q: As a cybersecurity service, do you recommend cyber liability insurance, or should companies focus more on cybersecurity infrastructure?
ImageQuest: Both. While having a strong cybersecurity infrastructure in place is crucial to the prevention and detection of malware and other infiltrations, data is valuable, and hackers are smart. Cybercriminals will stop at nothing to break even the strongest cyber security measures. We believe that a combination of prevention, detection, and insurance is the greatest way to reduce the negative impact of a data breach on a company.
Q: Is there anything else businesses should know before applying for cyber liability insurance?
ImageQuest: There are several things to keep in mind. One is that cyber liability insurance should no longer be treated as an addendum to a policy. Cybersecurity service firms recommend a standalone policy. Most cyber liability insurance policies are for $1 million or more, which brings us to the point that insurers are starting to charge much more for these policies. Businesses looking to renew or get cyber liability insurance for the first time might also wish to partner with a cybersecurity service to ensure they have the internal software and measures in place to qualify for an insurance policy in the first place. This might include anything from endpoint detection systems on personal devices to specific software the insurance company requires to prevent business email compromise and other types of attacks.
The world runs on the web, and all businesses can benefit from the protection of the cyber liability insurance policy. But, it takes more than an insurance policy to protect a business, and Nashville-based ImageQuest can help your business safeguard its assets by providing top-tier cybersecurity service and support.
