This put up is a part of a sequence sponsored by AgentSync.
Information is on the core of the insurance coverage business. From the smallest unbiased companies to the biggest legacy carriers, insurance coverage organizations of all sizes home information. This contains distribution channel information like the data collected and saved to license and appoint insurance coverage producers and adjusters, in addition to any client information these companies collected within the strategy of promoting insurance policies.
Yep, the insurance coverage business just about runs on information. Nonetheless, this reliance on delicate private and monetary info additionally makes insurance coverage organizations a first-rate goal for cybersecurity assaults.
Cyber assault charges are up within the insurance coverage business
Over the past decade, the insurance coverage business has gone by way of a fairly excessive digital transformation. Businesses, carriers, MGAs, and each different business participant in between have migrated away from guide workflows and legacy techniques in favor of extra strong digital options for his or her day by day operations.
Insurance coverage organizations that prioritize tech modernization supply their workers, prospects, and distribution companions a extra seamless expertise, however there’s a worth to progress. Because the insurance coverage sector migrates towards extra digital channels, the danger of cyber assaults will increase exponentially.
As we spherical out Cybersecurity Consciousness Month, we figured now’s the time to offer an outline of among the high cybersecurity dangers insurance coverage organizations presently face together with just a few finest practices for shielding your information and your backside line from an assault.
Key cybersecurity dangers within the insurance coverage sector
Information breaches
With regards to cyber assaults, information breaches are a high concern and some of the vital threats going through not solely insurance coverage organizations, however nearly each enterprise throughout each business. Even big-name gamers like Apple and Verizon have fallen prey to information breaches up to now. It is because hackers can entry and expose a corporation’s information by way of numerous totally different strategies, together with:
- Malware
- Insider threats
- Phishing
- Ransomware
- Software vulnerabilities
- Password guessing
- And lots of, many extra
In March of 2024, Constancy Investments Life Insurance coverage Co. skilled an information breach that compromised the private information of greater than 28,000 of their prospects. Cyber criminals obtained delicate info together with names, Social Safety numbers, financial institution accounts, and birthdates of Constancy policyholders by way of a hack at one among their third-party suppliers.
Past monetary losses, insurance coverage organizations may additionally face authorized liabilities, injury to their fame, and lack of buyer and companion belief on account of a breach.
Social Engineering
You’d by no means give away delicate info to somebody you don’t know (we hope!) however what in the event you thought the ask got here from somebody you knew and trusted? Social engineering happens when a cyber legal manipulates a person into giving up confidential info, typically by posing as somebody the person trusts. What can seem like a innocent electronic mail from a coworker asking you to click on a hyperlink or obtain a doc, would possibly truly be a intelligent method for hackers to infiltrate your techniques and compromise your information.
As soon as hackers acquire entry to a system by way of social engineering, they’ll shortly deploy different assaults like distributing malware or information breaches, inflicting much more monetary and reputational injury.
Theft and Fraud
The shift to extra digital channels and touchpoints means a big variety of monetary transactions within the insurance coverage business happen on-line. Whereas this makes issues simpler and extra handy for everybody concerned in insurance coverage distribution, it additionally opens companies as much as a better threat of fraud.
Cybercriminals are more and more focusing on insurance coverage corporations to commit fraud. From id thefts to extra complicated schemes like claims manipulation, annually insurance coverage fraud prices the business an estimated $308 billion.
Defend your information and your backside line by following these cybersecurity ideas
Whereas no firm is one hundred pc proof against a cyber assault, there are methods to reduce your threat. Insurance coverage organizations can comply with the following pointers to make sure their information is locked down, compliant, and secure from exterior threats:
Tip No. 1: Require multi-factor authentication throughout all techniques
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) has shortly turn out to be an ordinary of knowledge safety in lots of industries, and insurance coverage isn’t any exception. MFA ensures that earlier than a person logs right into a system they’ve gone by way of at the least two totally different factors of authentication.
Usually, MFA entails a person getting into their customary login credentials together with a one-time passcode despatched to them through textual content or electronic mail. Having a number of id verification checks makes it harder for unauthorized people to sneak in by stopping attackers at a second authentication stage even when a password is compromised.
Tip No. 2: Prioritize ongoing safety consciousness coaching
As frontline defenders, workers play a significant position in figuring out and mitigating dangers like phishing assaults, fraud, and information breaches. Providing (or higher but, requiring) common coaching classes can equip your workforce with the information and expertise they should acknowledge potential threats.
By demonstrating a dedication to ongoing cyber-security coaching, you foster a tradition of vigilance at your group. And since we within the business know the way shortly issues can change and new improvements can come up, steady coaching is a should. Ongoing schooling ensures your workers keep updated on the most recent threats and finest practices, reinforcing their understanding of compliance necessities and safety protocols.
Tip No. 3: Create an incident response plan
Within the unlucky occasion that your information is compromised, it’s all the time a good suggestion to have a response plan in place. Fairly than panicking put up cyber assault, making a plan for restoration is a proactive strategy that may assist reduce injury, scale back downtime, and protect your general fame.
A well-defined plan improves preparedness by figuring out potential vulnerabilities and outlining methods for restoration. When crafting your plan, be certain to outline clear procedures and duties for responding to totally different incidents. And don’t neglect to replace and check your plan recurrently to make sure workers are accustomed to their roles.
Tip No. 4: Assess your third-party vendor information hygiene
Utilizing third-party distributors is on the rise within the insurance coverage sector. With extra insurers and companies partnering with third-party suppliers for at the least one part of their digital transformation, a corporation’s information safety success relies on the safety and preparedness of any software program is companions with.
To make sure your techniques, in addition to any distributors you might companion with, are safe, compliant, and able to safeguarding delicate info, your group wants a stable safety framework. SOC 2 is a robust framework designed to assist companies navigate the complicated panorama of knowledge safety and regulatory compliance.
Extra particularly, a SOC 2 Kind II audit assesses any controls and processes a enterprise has associated to information safety, availability, confidentiality, and privateness. Selecting distributors who’ve carried out a SOC 2 Kind II audit helps insurance coverage business companies:
- Defend client information
- Preserve compliance
- Construct buyer and companion belief
- Enhance operational effectivity
- Mitigate threat
- Acquire a aggressive benefit
And that’s simply to call just a few of the advantages!
Information safety ought to by no means be an afterthought
With extra information and extra breaches, the flexibility to be resilient to cyber assaults is shortly turning into a core requirement for insurance coverage organizations. As cyber threats proceed to evolve, prioritizing information safety from the outset ensures that strong defenses are built-in throughout all operational processes.
The easiest way to keep away from a cyber assault is to remain diligent in assessing and updating you group’s safety requirements and cyber-hygiene practices, together with that of any software program distributors you’re employed with.
For those who’re contemplating partnering with AgentSync for extra trendy and seamless producer licensing and compliance administration at your service, company, or MGA/MGU, then you may breathe a sigh of reduction. Our merchandise are constructed on a zero-trust structure and we’re more than pleased to stroll you thru all of the methods by which we prioritize your information safety. To study extra, take a look at a demo, or speak to an AgentSync professional at present.
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