Don’t let your Cybersecurity make you uninsurable

We have become numb to the impacts of cybersecurity breaches. A new breach is reported in the news almost weekly, making it seem impossible to prevent it. However, a significant change is underway that you need to plan for. Insurance companies that help pick up the pieces are developing views on how businesses should protect themselves before a breach. You will require a solution that simplifies the automation of all your network devices’ configurations.

Data Security & Remediation

 When I read statistics showing the disruptive impact and financial cost of cyberattacks–ransomware payments reached a record-breaking USD 1.1 billion, and the global cost of cybercrime is projected to increase to nearly USD 24 trillion by 2027, my first thought used to be, “Holy cow!” This was quickly followed by the hope that these unfortunate folks have a robust data management and protection framework. Essentially, it is a focus on recovery with a touch of avoidance.

That mindset evolved and was nurtured through my previous roles as a systems and storage administrator, where I had the luxury of not needing to look beyond the firewalls. However, I was frustrated with security teams that I believed were enforcing rules and requirements merely to complicate my work.

Over the years, I understood (primarily through various sporting injuries) that avoiding something is far preferable to even the easiest recoveries. I finally came to appreciate the security team’s work to build resilience, hence my move into cybersecurity. 

Cybercrime is Increasing, & Insurance Companies are Responding

There is no doubt that cybercrime is on the rise. 40% of experts surveyed for the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report consider cyberattacks a “paramount risk.” It costs businesses a lot of downtime, compensation, and fines, but that’s what insurance is for, right? Suppose we can minimise the reputational damage from a serious data breach (and reputational damage is arguably the most damaging of all). In that case, the business will survive because the insurance will cover us.

Well, that might be changing. In a recent study of 3,000 cybersecurity and IT professionals, 95% of organizations that purchased a cyber insurance policy reported a direct impact on their cyber coverage:

• 60% said it impacted their ability to get coverage;
• 62% said it impacted the cost of their coverage;
• And 28% said it impacted the terms of their policy

This is significant. Your premium will increase (if it hasn’t already); at worst, you won’t get coverage. If your safety net were ripped out from under you, would your business survive a cyber-attack that would cost millions?

Network Security Compliance and Automation

As cybersecurity insurance evolves, you will encounter higher expectations and increased scrutiny regarding the management of your infrastructure. Insurance companies will establish their minimum requirements, and it will be up to businesses to demonstrate their responsibility before insurance coverage begins.

Automated and frequent software patching is a key requirement, but there are numerous other areas where companies may be at risk. For example:

• A poorly maintained inventory leads to old and vulnerable hardware remaining in service longer than it should.
• Inconsistent configurations that do not follow or are not regularly checked against best practices lead to configuration drift.
• Human error leads to unchanged passwords, open ports, or security features like two-factor authentication not being enabled.

BackBox is a leader in network cyber resilience. We assist companies in eliminating complexity from mundane, error-prone management tasks, saving time, money, and resources while enabling a more resilient network. In short, through elegant and easy-to-use automation, we can help you demonstrate compliance with security standards, which may lead to your insurance company being more lenient on premiums.

The BackBox Network Cyber Resilience Platform

Our network cyber resilience platform automates network infrastructure security, compliance, and lifecycle management across networks of any size without the need to write code. It supports over 180 device vendors and any deployment model, and we can get you up and running quickly. 

Automated Lifecycle Management. Back up all your devices, validate them, and restore them with a single click for fast and reliable recovery in case of a service disruption. Over 3,000 pre-built automations offer a single pane of glass to upgrade, patch, and manage all major network vendors with a consistent interface.

Compliance & Policy Management. Quickly run compliance checks on all devices to assess resilience and identify configuration drift. Automatically correct non-compliant configurations to align with industry-standard compliance frameworks and internal golden configurations.

Network Infrastructure Integrity. Proactively identify active exposures and choose to automate vulnerability mitigation via a configuration change or remediate the vulnerability by updating the device software.

Don’t let your network’s cyber resilience lag. Take control with BackBox. Let’s schedule a custom demo soon if you’d like to learn more.