Protection against cyber attacks is increasingly becoming a priority for startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they are three times more likely to be targeted by hackers than larger corporations.
As an extra layer of protection, many companies are turning to cyber insurance to help them when a breach occurs. And the cyber insurance market is growing rapidly. According to ratings firm S&P Global, annual premiums paid by companies for cyber insurance are expected to reach $23 billion by 2025.
Today, Havoc Shield, a comprehensive cybersecurity program-as-a-service built for small and medium businesses, and BDI Global, a leading cyber policy program manager, have announced the launch of Shield Up, a cyber risk assessment and remediation platform designed to make cyber liability insurance more accessible to small businesses. The program is supported by a facility from Beazley, a top insurance firm that operates across the United States, Europe and Asia.
As the sophistication of cyber attacks has risen over the past few years (for example, RockYou2021, SolarWinds, Log4j, etc.), companies under $100 million in revenue have found it especially difficult to meet carriers’ rising standards.
According to a company statement, Shield Up’s online portal offers a path for these businesses to quickly understand what IT security controls prevent them from obtaining full and affordable coverage. It allows them to immediately adopt underwriting-vetted solutions provided by Havoc Shield to close those gaps and bind a policy.
Shield Up also transforms the underwriting process through automated scanning technology and an automated control verification process, culminating in a streamlined buying experience for insureds and their brokers.
As the cost of cyber insurance policies continues to rise, and the standards SMEs must meet in order to receive coverage continue to become more stringent, a tool like Shield Up could provide some relief to small business owners.
“With Shield Up, we’re not only providing a more accessible path to quality cyber liability insurance – we’re offering small businesses a way to quickly and easily become more resilient to cyber threats,” said Michael Lamprecht, President of BDI Global.
Brian Fritton, CEO & founder of Havoc Shield, said, “With Shield Up, we aim to go beyond the current trend of arming underwriters with a better risk assessment through scanning technology. We want to help the applicant actually do the homework to fill gaps and become a better risk.”
Ultimately, said the CEO, this makes small businesses less likely to suffer financial and reputational losses from a breach or ransomware attack.
“We’ve done this by employing the same award-winning experience we use in our core offering to the often confusing experience of understanding and meeting cyber insurance requirements,” Fritton said.
Disclosure: This article mentions a client of an Espacio portfolio company.
