Cyber security has become an essential part of protecting
your digital presence, especially in the world of insurance, where a lot of
personal information could be at risk. Cyber-attacks have been on the rise for
years, with more technologies than ever before readily available for those who
have the knowledge to use them. This growth has come at the same time as
insurance companies are migrating towards digital channels for stronger customer
relationships, so it's no surprise that cyber-attacks have increased.
The insurance sector is under constant pressure to embrace
innovation and modernize their systems as customers now expect services on
demand. Being able to provide real-time insurance with an improved customer
experience will put your business above competitors. However, this means that
cyber security must be ready to protect the new systems and software that are
being introduced for this real-time insurance.
With that being said, we will explore the digital age of
insurance and create a useful guide that will help you be able to find the
right cyber security for your insurance business.
Cyber security in insurance
Due to the size of the insurance industry and just how much
personal data is consumed by insurance businesses in the digital age, cyber
security becomes vital.
When we sign up for insurance, we are forced to give over
our contact details, financial information and sometimes health information to
insurers before we receive their services. Insurance companies want to keep
this information as safe as possible to avoid it getting in the wrong hands,
which could result in potential lawsuits by clients. This is why they need
cyber security for insurance.
Cyber security within the insurance industry employs the
same techniques as other industries that hold similar information. Criminals
often conduct cyber-attacks to get information that they can sell or use for
ransom, so every industry that stores personal data needs to make sure that
strong cyber security is in place.
Insurance industry risk management
When it comes to risk management, security specialists and
risk managers will typically agree that there are four options when dealing
with risks. These are staying away from anything risky, mitigating any
processes that could cause risk, outsourcing the risk to another entity or
taking the chances associated with the event occurring.
The insurance industry should understand risk better than
any other business sector, as these other businesses often turn to insurers to
outsource the assumed risks. Risk-averse businesses will also transfer their
cyber security risks to insurance companies to minimize the exposure caused by
a cyber-attack.
Cyber security solutions
The number of cyber security options that are now available
is increasing rapidly. Due to the large threat that cyber-attacks can pose,
there has been an instant requirement to develop these cyber security solutions
to help keep personal information safe.
Employing AI and machine learning can significantly aid
insurers in protecting against any cyber-attacks, such as malware, ransomware
and more advanced attacks. These new technologies are far better at analyzing
large amounts of data at a much quicker rate than older technologies. They are
able to detect any suspicious activity that doesn’t suit the learned pattern of
data behaviour. This makes them able to respond to attacks immediately.
Cyber security solutions for insurance companies should
focus on four key elements. These are access controls, data behaviour, the
encryption of large data volumes and the prevention of data leaks. In addition
to this, all security solutions should offer real-time analysis that can easily
be monitored to ensure that performance remains optimal.
How to implement a strong cyber security system
Our best piece of advice when it comes to implementing a
strong cyber security system is to work with a cyber-security specialist in
your industry. You may have an understanding of cyber security and think you
know what needs to be covered; however, an expert will have a well-rounded
understanding and experience in the industry to know specifically what you
need. A company working in bad debt insurance will
need quite different services compared to what a life insurance company might
need, for example, and the smallest intricacies can make the biggest difference
when it comes to your coverage.
An expert will take into account how many people work in your
business, how your data is stored and the specific requirements to make sure
everything is covered. Sometimes you won’t even need to pay any more to work
with a cyber-security specialist, as they may work for providers and so will be
paid by them rather than any cost coming towards you.
Look for these key requirements
When you’re deciding on the right cyber security, you should
look out for these key requirements:
- Threat protection - the right protection should be in
place to prevent a cyber-attack wherever possible in the first place, including
all of the right threat protection technology, alerts and general threat
mitigation.
- 24 hour incident response - you want to have people on
hand if there is a breach that needs immediate attention, rather than just
being flagged and responded to the following day.
- A crisis management plan - there needs to be a strict plan
in place should anything go wrong, with very specific plans for who will act
and what will happen in the event of an emergency.
- Governance - you should have security leaders and
engineers who will have the technical skills to help in the event of a cyber-attack.
- Ongoing monitoring - careful manual monitoring should be
carried out by skilled individuals to make sure all protection that is required
is in place.
- Team support - a good cyber security company will provide
materials that can be sent around to all of your team about how to prevent
avoidable attacks, with things like regular password checks and industry
specific phishing emails and scams to be wary of or knowing how to identify
when a computer has been hacked.
