What Questions Do You Have to Answer When Getting Cybersecurity Insurance?

Most Companies have business liability and/or property insurance to protect them from a devastating loss due to a major incident or damage of some type. But not many have a newer type of insurance designed to protect them from loss due to a cyberattack.

The average cost of a data breach has risen to $4.37 million, and getting hit with ransomware has a remediation cost average of $1.85 million. Most smaller businesses can’t absorb those kinds of losses, which is why many end up going out of business after falling victim to a major attack.

Cybersecurity insurance helps protect companies from those potential losses by paying out to cover certain related expenses. These can vary according to insurance company and policy. Some of the typical costs covered by cybersecurity insurance include:

• Costs of notifying customers about a data breach
• Cost of data restoration services for impacted customers
• Recovery of compromised data
• Repair of damage to computer systems
• Other expenses related to remediating a cyberattack or data breach

When you get the application for cybersecurity insurance, you’re going to see a lot of questions that you may not know the answer to. You want to make sure you get the help of a trusted IT partner because answering wrong can mean you end up paying thousands of dollars more in premiums than you need to.

Just like certain auto insurance will give you discounts for vehicle additions that make you safer (like a backup cam), cyber insurance does the same for the IT security protections you have in place.

If you’re considering this type of insurance to protect yourself from the rise in phishing and cloud account breaches, here are some of the questions you’ll likely see on the application.

Do You Use SPF, DKIM, or DMARC?

Not many business owners will know what DKIM, DMARC, and SPF mean, so they may answer this question wrong. These are all forms of email authentication that are often used together to help combat spoofed email addresses used in phishing attacks. 

These protocols help protect companies from being targeted in a phishing attack that spoofs their domain to trick employees.

Do You Use MFA on All Cloud Provider Services You Use?

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is one of the best forms of cloud account security you can use. The requirement of additional authentication through a prompt sent to someone’s device is usually all it takes to keep a hacker with a stolen password out of your account.

Using MFA can decrease your risk and thus your cybersecurity insurance premiums.

Do You Use Next-Generation Antivirus (NGAV)?

Do you know the difference between antivirus and NGAV? Next-generation antivirus will usually have an AI and machine learning component that allows it to catch zero-day malware because it looks at behaviors.

Simple antivirus programs will use a signature-based approach, which means they need to have a database of known threats to reference. This is not as robust and cannot catch as many of today’s types of malware.

Do You Use Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)?

Companies have a vast number of different types of endpoints, including PCs, employee mobile devices, servers, and smart IoT devices. EDR is a centralized system that helps you keep track of them all and keep them all secure. It also includes a component that allows automatic response to threats, rather than having to wait for human intervention. 

Do You Record and Track All Software and Hardware Assets Deployed Across Your Organization?

Many businesses might initially think, “Of course, we do!” when reading this question. But often unauthorized applications are being used for business data by employees and these are not logged anywhere. 

This is known as shadow IT, and it can mean additional risk of a data breach. Employees often don’t realize that they’re doing anything wrong because their company may not have a cloud application use policy to guide them.

Do You Use a DNS Service for Protection?

DNS filtering services help protect your users from malicious websites. There are millions of phishing websites being created weekly, designed to do drive-by downloads of malware, steal login credentials, or something similar. 

A DNS filter detects malicious sites and can block them before they load in a user’s browser. It will detect the site in real-time if a user has clicked a phishing URL and redirect them to a warning message instead. 

Need Help Improving Your IT Security to Reduce Risk?

Quantum PC Services can help your Sturgeon Bay business with affordable cybersecurity solutions to reduce risk. We can also help you correctly fill out a cybersecurity insurance application so you’re not paying more than you should be.

Contact us today to learn more! Call 920-256-1214 or reach us online.