This put up is a part of a collection sponsored by AgentSync.
Information is on the core of the insurance coverage business. From the smallest unbiased businesses to the biggest legacy carriers, insurance coverage organizations of all sizes home information. This consists of distribution channel information like the knowledge collected and saved to license and appoint insurance coverage producers and adjusters, in addition to any shopper 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 data additionally makes insurance coverage organizations a chief goal for cybersecurity assaults.
Cyber assault charges are up within the insurance coverage business
During the last decade, the insurance coverage business has gone by way of a reasonably excessive digital transformation. Businesses, carriers, MGAs, and each different business participant in between have migrated away from handbook workflows and legacy methods in favor of extra sturdy digital options for his or her every day operations.
Insurance coverage organizations that prioritize tech modernization provide their staff, clients, 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 risk of cyber attacks increases 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 at the moment face together with a couple of greatest practices for safeguarding your information and your backside line from an assault.
Key cybersecurity dangers within the insurance coverage sector
Information breaches
In the case of cyber assaults, information breaches are a high concern and probably the most 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’s because hackers can entry and expose a company’s information by way of a lot of totally different strategies, together with:
- Malware
- Insider threats
- Phishing
- Ransomware
- Software vulnerabilities
- Password guessing
- And plenty of, many extra
In March of 2024, Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Co. experienced a data breach that compromised the private information of greater than 28,000 of their clients. Cyber criminals obtained delicate data together with names, Social Safety numbers, financial institution accounts, and birthdates of Constancy policyholders by way of a hack at one in all their third-party suppliers.
Past monetary losses, insurance coverage organizations might also face authorized liabilities, injury to their fame, and lack of buyer and associate belief because of a breach.
Social Engineering
You’d by no means give away delicate data to somebody you don’t know (we hope!) however what in case you thought the ask got here from somebody you knew and trusted? Social engineering happens when a cyber prison manipulates a person into giving up confidential data, typically by posing as somebody the person trusts. What can appear like a innocent e mail from a coworker asking you to click on a hyperlink or obtain a doc, may truly be a intelligent method for hackers to infiltrate your methods and compromise your information.
As soon as hackers acquire entry to a system by way of social engineering, they will rapidly 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 major 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 concentrating on insurance coverage firms to commit fraud. From id thefts to extra advanced schemes like claims manipulation, each year insurance fraud costs the industry an estimated $308 billion.
Defend your information and your backside line by following these cybersecurity suggestions
Whereas no firm is one hundred pc resistant to 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 methods
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) has rapidly turn into an ordinary of knowledge safety in lots of industries, and insurance coverage is not any exception. MFA ensures that earlier than a person logs right into a system they’ve gone by way of not less than two totally different factors of authentication.
Usually, MFA entails a person coming into their customary login credentials together with a one-time passcode despatched to them through textual content or e mail. Having a number of id verification checks makes it tougher 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, staff play an important 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 staff with the data 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 rapidly issues can change and new improvements can come up, steady coaching is a should. Ongoing training ensures your staff keep updated on the newest threats and greatest 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 at all times a good suggestion to have a response plan in place. Reasonably than panicking put up cyber assault, making a plan for restoration is a proactive method that may assist reduce injury, cut back downtime, and protect your total 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 overlook to replace and take a look at your plan frequently to make sure staff are conversant in 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 businesses partnering with third-party suppliers for not less than one element of their digital transformation, a company’s information safety success depends upon the safety and preparedness of any software program is companions with.
To make sure your methods, in addition to any distributors you might associate with, are safe, compliant, and able to safeguarding delicate data, your group wants a strong safety framework. SOC 2 is a robust framework designed to assist companies navigate the advanced 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 shopper information
- Keep compliance
- Construct buyer and associate belief
- Enhance operational effectivity
- Mitigate threat
- Acquire a aggressive benefit
And that’s simply to call a couple of of the advantages!
Information safety ought to by no means be an afterthought
With extra information and extra breaches, the power to be resilient to cyber assaults is rapidly changing into a core requirement for insurance coverage organizations. As cyber threats proceed to evolve, prioritizing information safety from the outset ensures that sturdy defenses are built-in throughout all operational processes.
One of the best ways 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.
In case you’re contemplating partnering with AgentSync for extra fashionable and seamless producer licensing and compliance administration at your provider, company, or MGA/MGU, then you possibly can breathe a sigh of aid. Our merchandise are constructed on a zero-trust structure and we’re very happy to stroll you thru all of the methods wherein we prioritize your information safety. To be taught extra, check out a demo, or talk to an AgentSync expert in the present day.
Subjects
Cyber
Data Driven
