The Expert Podcast

Look, if you're a business or enterprise and you're looking to get cyber liability insurance, what you may want to do is make sure that your company has very good technical—what they call—cyber hygiene. And why is that? Well, cyber coverage is determined in part by an organization's overall cyber hygiene. This comes from the insurance market, and they're talking to agents about how to better underwrite cyber insurance. The most important thing is making sure your client—if you're an insurance company—has good best practices in place for technology.

It doesn't have to be anything advanced. You don't have to have a full-time I.T. person, but just make sure you're using basic practices. Well, what are those practices? They change all the time. If you're looking to get cyber insurance, what you probably want to do is contact your insurance agent. Ask them: what are the general requirements for the different carriers that they have? Have them give you a checklist. Put those policies in place first before you try to apply for insurance.

Then, when you apply, you can show your carrier that you have a tight ship, and you're probably more likely to get not only coverage but a better premium quote and better options. You may be able to choose from multiple companies. If you don't have good policies in place, you might not be able to get an insurance policy.

What are the odds that's going to happen? Well, according to the article, within the next few years nearly half of companies worldwide will experience cyber attacks on their software supply chains.

Think about it—you have fire insurance on your business. Half of companies don't have a fire in their business. You probably have slip-and-fall insurance for your retail location. Half of companies don't have personal injuries on their premises. Many companies do not have cyber, but half of companies are going to have an attack. So it's very important to get it, and the coverage is relatively cheap as long as you have good policies in place—procedures in place—for your company before you start looking for insurance.

So find out what the checklist is from your agent, and put those best practices in place so you can get a good package of coverage from your underwriter.