An undeniable reality of 2022 is that cyber threats continue to be a significant source of worry for businesses worldwide. Small businesses are increasingly under scrutiny from bad actors who are targeting them in higher numbers than ever before. In fact, recent research shows that small businesses are three times more likely1 to fall victim to cyber attacks than larger companies, with the cost of these incidents reaching $2.7 billion2 in 2020 alone.
To help combat these incidents, many insurance providers are making the technology requirements for cyber insurance renewal much stricter. Today, we’ll discuss how these requirements may affect your business and what benefits you can gain from investing in the technology solutions needed to secure cyber insurance.
Cyber Insurance Renewal Requirements
Many insurance providers are mandating specific policies, security measures, and features to help your organization retain its existing coverage and minimize a premium increase. These are designed to protect your organization and will ultimately make your cyber security protections much stronger. Some of these requirements may include:
- Multi-Factor Authentication
- Endpoint Detection and Response
- Managed Detection and Response
In addition to implementing the above cyber security solutions, your company might also be asked to provide documentation demonstrating it has certain policies in place, including:
- Regular updates and patches
- Secured backups
- A reliable disaster recovery plan
- An incident response plan that has been extensively documented and tested
- A process of removing end-of-life software
- Dark web monitoring
- Regular, mandatory employee cyber security training
Another factor that may affect your insurance renewal is whether your company is already vulnerable to high-profile threats like the SolarWinds cyber security hack. If you have been exposed to any vulnerabilities, your insurance company will need to know what mitigation measures were taken.
The Impact of Stricter Cyber Insurance Renewal Requirements
Here are a few ways these strict cyber insurance renewal requirements are affecting businesses:
- Policy renewal takes longer: Some IT professionals, including prominent CISOs, estimate that cyber insurance renewal is taking longer these days due to stricter standards. It’s wise to start planning at least three months3 in advance to ensure your coverage doesn’t lapse in the interim.
- Higher upfront costs: If your business does not currently have some of the desired technologies and policies in place, making these changes comes at a price. Some companies hire in-house staff, while others outsource their IT and cyber security needs to a business that specializes in this area.
- Improved cyber security policies: While there is a cost to implementing some of the technology solutions required for cyber insurance renewal, they will enhance your existing cyber security strategy and ultimately benefit your business.
Get the Solutions Needed to Secure Your Insurance Renewal With Enterprise Visions
If you’re not sure how to meet these new requirements, turning to a trusted technology advisor like Enterprise Visions can help. We’ll work with you to find and implement the best-fit cyber security solutions you need to secure your cyber insurance renewal. Don’t wait until it’s too late – get in touch with us today.
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