Reducing cyber insurance premiums is essential because of the rising tide of cyber threats. The higher the risk of threats, the more important it is to ensure robust security and adopt measures to lower the premiums.
Reducing cyber insurance premiums may be an intimidating task, particularly for small and medium businesses (SMBs) in New Jersey and Greater New York. This guide explores the effective strategies how organizations can lower cyber insurance costs.
What is Cyber Insurance?
Cyber insurance is a type of insurance that provides coverage for businesses and organizations against cyber threats, such as data breaches, cyberattacks, and other forms of cybercrime. Moreover, it helps protect against financial losses and reputational damage resulting from cyber incidents.
Cyber insurance policies typically cover costs associated with incident response, notification, and credit monitoring for affected individuals, as well as legal and regulatory fines.
Breaking Down Cyber Insurance Premiums
Cyber insurance premiums refer to the amount businesses pay for the insurance policy, which are determined by several factors that insurers consider when assessing the risk. Therfore, it’s essential to understand the factors that influence the cost of cyber insurance.
Some key factors include:
- Business industry and size: Industries that are more susceptible to cyber-attacks, such as finance and healthcare have higher premiums. Therefore the size and annual revenue of your business can impact the premium amount.
- Security measures: Insurers evaluate the security measures you have in place to protect your digital assets. Furthermore, having a robust cybersecurity posture can help lower your cyber insurance premiums.
- Data handling practices: The way you handle sensitive customer data plays a role in determining your premiums. Implementing strong data protection measures can help reduce the cost.
Demonstrating a proactive approach to risk management will help you potentially lower your cyber insurance premiums.
Best Strategies to Reduce Cyber Insurance Premiums
(1) Assess the sufficiency of the cyber insurance coverage
The first step to reducing your cyber insurance premiums is understanding exactly what you need. Over-insuring can lead to unnecessary costs, while under-insuring leaves you vulnerable.
You must understanding the specific cyber risks your business faces to avoid paying for redundant or irrelevant coverage. Moreover, conducting a comprehensive risk assessment helps identify the areas that need coverage and the ones that don’t.
Such assessment can help identify the specific cyber risks your business faces. Doing this helps you avoid unnecessary costs or paying for irrelevant coverage.
(2) Implement strong cyber security measures
Certain practices stand out in their effectiveness and impact, and Implementing strong cybersecurity measures is an absolute necessity. Some effective cybersecurity practices measures include Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), 24/7 monitoring, security monitoring, and regular penetration testing.
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): EDR provides advanced, real-time monitoring and threat response for end-user devices, strengthening your cybersecurity posture and offering leverage for lower insurance premiums with proactive risk management.
- 24/7 Monitoring: Monitoring your network around-the-clock ensures immediate responses to cyber threats, therefore demonstrating a serious commitment to cybersecurity and potentially reducing insurance costs.
- Security Monitoring: By continuously monitoring network security for a range of threats and recording security events, businesses can prevent breaches and provide proof of effective risk management practices to insurers.
- Regular Penetration Testing: Conduct regular penetration tests to identify and fix vulnerabilities. This shows that you are proactive with your cybersecurity practice, a trait highly valued by insurers and often leads to more favorable insurance terms and lower premiums.
Implementing strong cybersecurity measures puts you in a position to interact with the best insurance brokers with the lowest premiums in the space.
Watch Simon Clark discuss how network assessments can help you reduce cyber insurance premiums.
(3) Implement a strong password policy
Everyone struggles with this. Sometimes you just have too many passwords that you need to keep track of, and you may get tempted to use the same password for many applications. Please don’t. Always make unique and effective passwords.
Email monitoring is so important, even though it takes a little extra time. Therefore, be thoughtful about your passwords and email management to limit your exposure to many risks.
You can use Password Managers like LastPass that allows you to securely generate strong passwords and effortlessly retrieve them to various sites. Here’s Daragh Walsh explaining the basics of using LastPass.
(4) Connect with an IT expert
If you’ve already taken the opportunity to connect with an expert like Wayne Roye of Troinet, you may understand the importance of implementing a comprehensive cybersecurity approach. From an insurance perspective, it gives you the best options, the lowest premium, and hopefully lower retention.
You should not consider low premium only, factor in the retention/participation clause because it’s a sliding scale. You may have a low premium but the retention rate is very high amounting to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per incident.
The retention/participation rate determines the amount of financial risk that businesses assume in the event of a cyber-attack or data breach. It is the amount paid before the insurance policy takes over.
So, when you have the advantage controls, you can look for a lower premium and lower retention to put your business in a much better place. Furthermore, when you look at the yearly cost of a potential incident, factor in the premium and the retention/participation rate./participation rate.
“You can have a low premium, but with a very high retention rate.”
(5) Proof or Documentation of Due Diligence
Provide proof of due diligence. I’ll keep it as simple as possible: remember, in court what doesn’t get documented never happened. You must prove that you’ve done due diligence to protect your company, employee, vendor, and client information from cyber attacks.
Between getting the cyber insurance applications until if something happens, you must provide:
- A list of all the assets that access company data
- Logs of all activities
- Reported remediations
- A root cause analysis of who, what, where, and why.
You must document these conversations if you have a claim, or you have to go into litigation.
“You need to prove that you’ve taken the steps to protect vital information.”
IT support and IT security are two different things. I (Wayne) put it like this: You can’t go a General Practice physician for heart surgery. He can give some general advice but you cannot expect him to undertsand matters of the heart to the core.
Most insurance providers talk about things like reducing your policies, and increasing your cyber security controls–they’re looking to make sure that you’re doing the right things and able to document and show proof of what’s happening.
Many SMBs misunderstand what qualifies as effective proof of diligence. However, our team at Troinet has a firm grip of the problem and we’ve built tools for successful implementation of the best security practices.
Our solutions will help you research the most efficient premiums and renew your policies in the best light possible. Furthermore, if there’s a claim or if there’s a lawsuit, you can physically prove that you have done your due diligence, and have effective cybersecurity measures in place. Not just having an IT company and an antivirus. This will not fly in a court of law since that’s not due diligence, and it’s not well-documented. Get Cyber Insurance Consulting services today and avoid unprecedented shortcomings.
“Work with us and run your business confidently. We’ve solved the cybersecurity puzzle so you can review and implement cyber policies in the best light possible.”
(6) Regularly Review and Update Your Policies
The digital landscape is continually evolving, and so are the risks associated with it. Regularly review and update your cyber insurance policies to ensure you only pay for what’s needed. As your business evolves, so should your policy. This might include increasing coverage in certain areas or possibly reducing it in others.
Remain up-to-date with the latest cyber threats and cybersecurity measures to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and ensure adequate cover.
Watch this explanation of the best cyber liability insurance strategies.
(7) Negotiate with Insurance Providers:
Don’t be afraid to negotiate with your insurance provider. Armed with a thorough understanding of your coverage needs and robust cybersecurity measures, you can present a strong case for reduced premiums. Therefore, highlight your company’s proactive steps in cybersecurity and risk management during negotiations.
(8) Leverage Industry Specifics:
Certain industries face higher risks of cyber attacks and therefore have higher premiums. Therefore, if your SMB operates in a low-risk industry, make sure your insurance provider takes this into account. Provide industry-specific data to support your case for lower premiums.
Implementing these strategies can effectively reduce cyber insurance premiums while bolstering cybersecurity posture.
Managed security services can also help reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and show insurance broker your commitment to cybersecurity. Public entities, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), provide guidelines for cybersecurity practice to follow for reduced exposure to cyber-attacks.
Conclusion
Reducing cyber insurance premiums is a critical aspect of risk management for businesses, especially in the face of increasing cyber threats.
Ultimately, a comprehensive and strategic approach to cyber insurance will help with cost savings and improve your cybersecurity posture. Understanding the factors that influence premiums and implementing the strategies listed in this article will help you lower insurance costs and boost cyber protection.
Also, it’s important to note that cyber insurance is just one aspect of risk management, and businesses should also implement other measures, such as incident response plans and employee training, to reduce their risk of cyber-attacks.
