Although the cyber insurance market has experienced consistent premium decreases and increased capacity, recent discussions with cyber carriers and industry experts indicate this trend is set to change in 2024. Here are the key factors driving the anticipated hardening of the cyber insurance market and the proactive measures businesses can take to mitigate their cyber risk.
Increasing threat landscape: Ransomware attacks have been on the rise and their costs are escalating. Cyber carriers are witnessing a surge in these attacks which is leading to higher claim payouts. Additionally, social engineering attacks such as phishing, are becoming more frequent and severe, posing significant risks to organizations.
Regulatory environment: Companies are facing increased privacy regulations at both the federal and state levels. Non-compliance with these regulations can result in substantial fines and penalties. As a result, businesses must prioritize privacy and data protection to avoid legal and financial consequences.
Anticipated market hardening: While premium hardening has not yet materialized, industry experts predict that the cyber insurance market will harden in 2024. This means that premiums are likely to increase as carriers adjust their pricing to account for the growing cyber risks and higher claim costs.
To enhance cybersecurity and mitigate risks, organizations should implement these 12 cyber security measures:
- Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) for all users.
- Create and continuously test an incident response plan.
- Explicitly block remote access ports at the firewall or network gateway.
- Air gap and encrypt backups.
- Use email filtering and web security.
- Remove end-of-life (EOL) and end-of-support (EOS) devices and software.
- Implement advanced endpoint detection and response solutions.
- Enable logging for all systems, software, and perimeter devices.
- Conduct employee awareness training and phishing simulation.
- Update patch management programs.
- Deploy password managers and adopt least-privilege access.
- Manage and secure the vendor/digital supply chain.
To learn more ways to manage your cyber risk, contact a Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA) advisor today.
