Cyber Insurance: Is having a policy in place enough to protect your business?

With cyber threats now part of the everyday risk for businesses, more organisations are looking towards cyber insurance for additional protection, but does having cyber insurance mean your organisation is cyber ready?

What is cyber insurance?

Cyber insurance is designed to provide financial protection against certain losses associated with cyber incidents. Exactly what is covered will depend on the individual policy, which is why it’s important to understand the terms and requirements of your own cover.

Almost half (47%) of UK businesses and 35% of charities now report having some form of insurance against cyber security risks. However, only 10% of businesses and 5% of charities have a specific cyber security insurance policy, with most cyber cover sitting within a wider insurance policy.

Perhaps more surprisingly, 22% of businesses don’t know whether they have any form of cyber security insurance at all.

Insurance and cyber security aren’t the same thing

Insurance can play an important role in managing your business risk, but it shouldn’t be viewed as a replacement for cyber security. Having buildings or car insurance doesn’t mean you stop locking the doors or windows, and cyber security should be approached in much the same way.

Your first priority should still be reducing the likelihood of an incident happening and limiting the potential impact if one does.

That means considering measures including:

• Multi-factor authentication
• Regular software updates and patching
• Secure and tested backups
• Access controls
• Cyber security monitoring
• Staff awareness and training
• A clear incident response plan

Would you know what to do if something happened?

It’s easy to assume you’ll work out what to do if an incident happens. But when systems are unavailable, data may have been compromised and your organisation is under pressure, that’s not the ideal time to start deciding who is responsible for what.

An incident response plan can help establish who needs to be involved, who needs to be notified and what actions should be taken.

When did you last review your cyber position?

If your cyber insurance renewal is approaching, it could be a useful prompt to look beyond the policy itself and review your wider cyber security arrangements.

Points to consider:

• Do we know exactly what our insurance covers?
• Are we meeting the requirements of our policy?
• Is our security measures appropriate for the risks we face today?
• Have our backups been tested?
• Do our employees understand their role in cyber security?
• Do we know what we would do if an incident happened tomorrow?

If you can’t confidently answer those questions, it’s worth taking a closer look.

Cyber insurance can form an important part of your organisation’s approach to risk, but prevention, protection and preparation remain essential.

At abtec, we work with businesses, charities and organisations to fully understand their technology and cyber security position. We help to identify risks, highlight gaps in protection and put sensible, effective measures in place to improve resilience.

Cyber security doesn’t need to be complicated, but it does need to be understood and actively managed. If you’re unsure how well your organisation is protected, or you haven’t reviewed your cyber security in some time, now is the right time to take a closer look.

Speak to the abtec team to review your current cyber security arrangements.

Email: info@abtec.net
Call: 01942 209060
Visit: www.abtec.net