An increase in cyber attacks and claims is challenging for the cyber insurance business. Insurers have made changes in response: narrowing the parameters for coverage, increasing prices, and introducing new requirements for cover.
Cyber Security
Cyber criminals, state-sponsored hackers and even the occasional disgruntled employee are constantly looking to gain unauthorized access for a variety of purposes: theft of money, cyber espionage, personal information for sale or for use in scams, and damage to critical infrastructure for just a few of the most common.
So how does an organization mitigate an entire world full of continual cyber attacks? Just as buildings have a number of necessary elements of physical security: access control, cameras, alarms and so on; there are similar key elements of cyber security that are absolutely vital for just about any modern business.
It starts with identifying and closing the most common doors that attackers use. For example, phishing attacks on employees are far and away the most common initial point of entry. The breach of even a low-level employee account can quickly turn into an escalation in access privileges and the ability to reach sensitive information. This is also true of smart devices, which are generally more poorly secured than computers and phones.
Attackers exploit Google reCAPTCHA forms to sneak into users' inboxes because automated email security scanners cannot solve CAPTCHAs to determine the destination phishing URLs.
The new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as the American Rescue Plan Act allocated government funding for cybersecurity efforts, but public entities to date have not moved as quickly as most consider prudent. That appears to be changing.
Google says initial access broker Exotic Lily targeted at least 650 organizations with about 5,000 phishing emails per day to obtain credentials for selling to ransomware gangs.
An open source project maintainer decided to protest the war in Ukraine by targeting computers with an IP address in Russia or Belarus with a malicious update in a controversial act of hacktivism.
While compliance leaders must have an abundance of technical prowess, truly successful compliance executives today are the ones that seamlessly blend hard with soft skills.
Pandora cybercrime gang took responsibility for the ransomware attack on automotive supplier Denso and threatened to leak 1.4 terabytes of stolen data. Attack occurred hot on the heels of another compromise on Bridgestone.
Okta has about 15,000 clients and provides authentication services for remote logins, usually for employees and students. A known security breach took place in January, but LAPSUS$ says this is something else.
Many cyber insurance providers are now requiring basic security hygiene from their customers. One of those requirements is multi-factor authentication (MFA), which adds a layer of protection to sign-in processes.
The White House said that there is "no certainty" that there will be a cyber attack from Russia, but that the country is exploring options to target US critical infrastructure and that companies should harden cyber defenses.