When it comes to cyber insurance, it’s all about reducing your risk, but the insurance companies have a stake as well. Cyber insurance providers need to limit their own liability as much as possible to remain profitable. Because of this, they will not provide coverage for your company unless you can demonstrate that you have implemented specific cybersecurity safeguards to protect it.
Recently, DataComm has been getting a lot of questions and organizations reaching out to us, as their cyber insurance providers have been cracking down on the clients that fail to follow certain conditions. As a result, many are left scrambling for answers, frequently in a race against time to find a solution before their insurance company yanks the plug on their coverage. In this article, we’ll be discussing some of these requirements and help you keep your cyber insurance coverage and what to implement to help weather the storm and circumvent pending cyber attacks to your business.
What Is Cyber Insurance and Why Is It Important?
Cyber insurance protects your organization against risks in the digital world, such as security breaches or malicious attacks on workplace computer networks.
Companies are ultimately accountable for their own cyber security, but getting the right insurance means you’ll be covered in case of an attack. To keep your organization afloat, you’ll need cyber liability insurance.
The last thing you want to happen in the event of a hack is to be saddled with legal expenses. It’s for this reason that businesses need cyber insurance. Additionally, proactively addressing cyber risks is the best strategy to safeguard your company and implementing IT solutions to prevent the issue that would require cyber insurance is paramount.
Requirements for Cyber Insurance Coverage
Nowadays, businesses are looking to purchase cyber insurance to limit the potential financial damage from cybersecurity risks. However, with the rise in cyberattacks, cyber insurance policies have become more stringent in their requirements. To obtain cyber insurance, businesses must, in most cases, comply with some of the following criteria:
Two-factor Authentication (2FA)
Recent years have seen an unprecedented uptick in malware attacks and other forms of online criminal activity. Because of the pandemic, more data is being created, accessed and shared remotely by employees who work from home. This increases the number of cybersecurity blind spots and makes it easier for damaging attacks to occur. Because of this, 2FA has become more crucial than ever.
2FA was developed so that the login process could have additional security checks. Users are often requested to provide other details to authenticate their identity before being permitted to access certain features or resources. By increasing the number of login verification points, your company can better demonstrate that a user is whom they claim to be while also limiting the possibility of an attack.
When it comes to ensuring the highest level of security, two or more methods of authentication must be used:
- Information you know, such as a password
- An inherent or biological trait, such as your fingerprint
- Something you have, such as a card you can scan or a cell phone or app that you can confirm on
This offers an additional layer of protection to accounts and makes it so that hackers need to do more than just steal credentials to get access.
DataComm has implemented a 2FA solution for multiple platforms which sometimes requires an authentication code to be input when sent via email or SMS text.
VPN Connections
As the name implies, a virtual private network (VPN) is a network host for your team and resources that is kept private, protected and encrypted using 2FA and data encryption and is made virtually available so that your team may connect from any location.
Using VPN, all your online activity is protected by a secured virtual tunnel. Additionally, it protects your network and linked devices from illegal access. You hold the key to the encrypted tunnel, and no one else does, so only you can get to the data within. With this technology, government agencies, cybercriminals, network administrators and internet service providers have no access to your data or traffic.
DataComm’s VPN solution also comes with a 2FA setup that requires the users to remotely login to the VPN and then confirm via a secondary device (their cell phone) via a downloadable application that they are truly trying to gain access and it’s not a fraudulent attempt.
We handle a wide range of IT Consulting project-based needs, including VPN setup and more.
EDR Solutions Installed on Workstations and Servers
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a security solution for end-user devices that keeps an eye out for cyber threats like ransomware and malware and takes action when it finds them. Endpoint and workload activities and events are recorded by EDR security systems, giving security personnel the transparency they need to detect issues that would otherwise go unnoticed by the organization. Every time a system has a problem, EDR can offer a real-time overview of the system’s current state.
EDR is a consolidated platform for data collection and analysis, endpoint incident investigation, and remediation measures. It can also be used to automate routine tasks. As a result, security teams are better able to react swiftly to attacks, increasing their productivity.
DataComm uses a fully managed solution of ESET to implement on all workstations and servers (both remote or in the office) for full protection for antivirus, malware/ransomware,, security and more.
This multi-layered technology provides our clients with the best level of protection possible. Utilizing ESET from a fully managed perspective with DataComm helps your organization take a hands off approach on your cybersecurity so it’s working all the time, every time.
Network attack protection gives us improved detection of known vulnerabilities on the network and is one of many layers that helps against the spread of malware, network-conducted attacks and exploitation of vulnerabilities where a patch has not even been released yet.
Offsite Backup with Encryption
Even though a computer system seems to be highly efficient, a breakdown could still result in critical data loss. Because of this, numerous organizations have implemented backup systems that allow them to restore lost data. To be on the safe side, every business needs at least two backups: local and offsite.
Offsite backup is a type of system data backup that entails using a remote location to secure data in the case of a disaster. While this process is comparable to a traditional backup method, it involves a storage medium or facility not housed within the organization’s main network and in a remote geographic location or the cloud.
Whenever possible, offsite backups should be encrypted to increase security. Encryption is an effective final layer of protection when installed and managed correctly. To put your mind at ease, you know that even if backup files are lost, they cannot be accessed by malicious parties. This can be very advantageous when it comes to data breach notification requirements and compliance.
The Bottom Line
With the rise of cybersecurity hazards, companies need to put up different layers of protection. One of these is cyber insurance. However, this type of coverage requires various criteria such as 2FA, VPN connections, EDT solutions, and offsite backup with encryption. Without these conditions, cyber insurance companies will be unwilling to provide you with the coverage you need. All in all, these measures will cost your business a hefty investment.
However, there are other ways to enhance the safety of your company’s network. With managed networking and IT consulting, you can alleviate cybersecurity risks. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) like DataComm Plus can handle tasks like ensuring top security, maintaining backup facilities, and offering round-the-clock assistance. Learn more about our managed networking and IT consulting services today.
See the DataComm sales team, so that you are never in an emergency situation where your cyber insurance is about to drop your coverage and you don’t have the correct or timely fix.
Or the even bigger emergency situation where you do not have accurate cybersecurity implemented and you are subject to an attack that causes huge financial ransom costs and bogs your day-to-day operations to a screeching halt. It is a very costly mistake and one you would never want to make again. Let DataComm prevent that from even happening with our offsite back, ESET managed solution, 2FA setup and more.
Call us at 262-784-2311 or email sales@datacommplus.com to let us help with your offsite backup, virus and malware protection, 2FA setup and VPN access today!
