Cyber security strategies for the Insurance sector prilient.com
The insurance industry took an enormous hit in the covid-19 epidemic. People were concerned about the payment of auto insurance costs including car payment, mortgage payments and life insurance policy payment and homeowners/renters' insurance. The sudden rise in health risks and the lack of insurance coverage just added to their worries. The economic recession that followed affected both the providers and consumers.
The result of this resulted in a shift in consumer behaviour, which in turn led the insurance industry to move faster towards digitalization. According to a survey conducted recently all over the world there was a 20 percent growth in digitization in the insurance industry in 2020 all by itself. Consumers are increasingly using digital tools for submitting claims or for obtaining digital policies.
What are the reasons why the insurance sector is in danger from cyber-attacks?
Everyone requires insurance in some way or another, typically multiple types. This requires the surrender of contact details, bank and financial information and according to the kind of insurance it is also required to surrender health information. This sensitive information is given to multiple insurance companies when they shop for the most effective insurance plan. This can result in massive quantities of information being distributed and stored at different locations. If it is exposed, this could result in disastrous consequences including penalties from regulators and lawsuits filed by clients or even ransom demands from companies who have unleashed ransomware attacks against databases.
The insurance industry holds massive amounts of sensitive information. Because confidence in insurers keeps customers and attracts new customers, it's essential for the industry to keep its credibility. The data that insurers collect can be separated into unstructured and structured data. Structured data includes names, addresses, addresses and contact numbers, as well as information about vehicles as well as medical information. It can be organised into an organised format, which is searchable and can be converted into machine-readable. But, non-structured data that includes reports, emails, pictures, multimedia social media, etc. must be collected in a format that can be read by humans. Since the information is individualised, it can be difficult to translate into an appropriate format.
Additionally, conventional security devices and technology aren't used anymore to stop cyber-attacks. Staff members aren't educated or equipped to be able to react effectively to threats or an attack. It can be particularly challenging when handling data that is not structured. Not to mention the importance of trust when it comes to this type of business. Even a whisper of an attack on a computer can do significant harm to the reputation of an insurance firm. It is therefore difficult to keep the company afloat while protecting the data of customers.
What can we do about this issue?
The most important strategies that pop into your mind right away are advances in technology and policies that are effective aside from user education. Technology that is efficient will function only when it is supported by a sound policy , and the reverse is true. For example, a vulnerable database that is in the cloud due to a lack of clear policy could hinder the use of any new technology.
Moving to the second important aspect which is user education. The majority of attacks involve some kind that involves social engineering. A cyberattack in this way is typically the result of poor user education. Users are manipulated into divulging relevant information that together with data can result in severe damage or give enough weapons to start an attack.
What are the kinds of attacks that are faced by insurers?
Malware like ransomware attacks and phishing attacks, such as spear phishing attacks are the most frequent in the insurance industry. Ransomware hinders a company's access to its systems and data. For example, Emotet and Trickbot are the Trojan horse malware that pose major threats to insurance businesses. The trick of luring a client or customer to divulge personal details through phone calls, emails or any other method that is fraudulent is a very common type of the phishing attack. The entire range of PII (personally identified information) are disclosed, such as names, addresses, bank details and social security numbers, among others. Spear phishing is yet another type of social engineering which typically is targeted at individuals. The risk of negligence by inadvertently sharing confidential information is a risk that can't be ignored. It could put clients at risk and puts the reputation of a business in danger.
Cyber security issues in the Insurance Industry
The increasing digitization of the insurance industry has led the IT team to make use of the latest analytics and data to gather and process huge amounts of information about consumers. In addition to studying the information, they are looking for ways to protect the data and protect it. The insurance industry must confront a myriad of issues in the midst of preparing to improve security within their networks:
The outdated legacy systems pose an extreme risk to security since it is easy to hack.
Insurers aren't aware of business practices that could be risky because of the ignorance and lack of transparency.
Phishing is a major issue since Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a targeted attack on individuals who impersonate middle-level executive emails instead of massive fraud. This makes it more difficult to distinguish between genuine authentic and fraudulent emails.
Internal threats are a major issue, more than ever before because of the remote work of many employees without or insufficient security measures. These issues must be dealt with sooner rather than later , as they could lead to massive fines, legal costs or lawsuits, fraud-monitoring expenses, etc. But most importantly, it could result in a loss of trust that can result in a negative impact on the image of the business as well as be challenging to come over.
Strategies for defending against cyber attacks
The primary goal should be to increase efficiency, increase profits, decrease costs, increase the transparency needed to identify niches such as risk consulting and claims. To achieve this it is crucial that brokers and insurers know what data they are and the location where it is kept.
The primary goal is to find employees susceptible to phishing attacks, particularly those who work remotely. It is advisable for businesses to put money into a solid human security system that can protect you from hackers. The use of advanced and cutting-edge technology to create a strong security plan will ensure your business is protected even in the face of many threats and hacks.
A few ways to guard against cyber-attacks include:
Perform a risk analysis Find out where and how sensitive data is kept. How do emails get used and are they accessed? Where and when can mobile devices be accessed?
Create a complete security plan which addresses the areas that are vulnerable and devise strategies to guard against threats or, if they are then recover from them. The plan must be developed to stop leaks from occurring due to inattention. Threats to the insider community also have to be addressed.
Inform your employees, staff or clients. – Implement the security mindset in your business. Informing employees and spreading awareness of secure cyber security best practices can help in securing sensitive data. Simulating attacks to resemble malicious attacks are also helpful in educating personnel to recognize cyber-attacks using social engineering like Phishing.
Join forces with a cybersecurity vendor. An external cyber security vendor can help you build a robust defence system. For instance, a well-managed EDR (Endpoint detection and response) system will perform surveillance of threats 24/7, emergency response and alarm filtering. Additionally, it performs thorough analysis and validation of threats by using advanced analytics techniques for data, intelligence generated from threats, investigation of forensic evidence and the human experience.
What can we do to stop the possibility of a cyber-attack?
To keep up with the old saying "Prevention will always beat curing" it is more beneficial to take an active approach instead of a reactive one. However, it is not likely that you will be able to stop every attack. Therefore, it is advisable to create a system that combines both reactive and proactive solutions.
One of the ways of managing risk include:
Avoid risks
Reduce risk through the introduction of processes and procedures to minimise the impact of the risk
Transfer risk to a different entity
Accept the risk
The insurance industry is just beginning its journey when it comes to cyber security, like many other industries. However they may be able to understand risk better than others. They are, after all, involved in taking risks.
What have been the most recent incidents or breaches of insurance companies?
The covid-19 virus forced businesses to operate using remote working. Work at home (WFH) was normal. This led to a huge amount of employees accessing their data through unsecure networks, which led the financial, banking and insurance industry to become a target for hackers.
In the year 2020 an insurance brokerage company was the victim of an attack by ransomware. Personal data for more than 7 million clients was stolen.
A well-known commercial insurance company required a payment of nearly $40 million to get its data back in 2021.
An insurance company for property and casualty was hacked in the month of January 2021, where driver's licence numbers had been stolen from the database.
Solutions to stop cyberattacks within the insurance industry
Rapid advancements are being made in the security of Big Data across all industries. Data from banks and financial institutions, as well as information from insurance companies are the most popular target for hackers due to the huge amount the data is worth.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) help to combat ransomware, malware as well as other persistent and advanced threats (APT) substantially. Since these technologies are well-equipped to manage large amounts of data, any slight deviation from the normal pattern is quickly spotted. They're equipped to track and effectively respond to threats.
Cyber security solutions should be able to handle the encryption of huge amounts of data, the behaviour of data and access control and stop leaks of data. In addition, real-time analysis as well as monitoring should be an integral component of the security solution to ensure that there is no degradation in performance that may cause delays in processing data.
What's the next step for insurers?
Certain insurance companies have started taking a stringent approach to cyber security to stop attacks and threats head-on. Others are following similar steps.
The suggested steps to be taken by businesses include:
Research and invest in the latest technology, such as Blockchain, AI & ML data analytics, deep learning, etc. These technologies will strengthen the foundation of the network while finding the flaws in the system and repairing these.
Conduct periodic assessments that regularly examine application systems for any emerging and new security threats. Install robust firewalls and secure gateways to are compatible with third-party affiliations and other applications systems of partners.
Get rid of outdated systems and develop a plan which will include modern and up-to-date applications, with the ability to update whenever and as often as is deemed essential.
Make sure to emphasise using authentication techniques like the use of MFA (multi factors authorization) and SSO (single sign-on) to gain access to information. Create strategies for implementing roles-based access controls for employees to ensure there are no insider dangers.
Educate clients/brokers/personnel/agents etc. on how to protect yourself from social engineering threats such as spear phishing. In-house training is conducted and training programs to review and refresh when the threat and breach become apparent. Use simulations to raise awareness of the various types of attacks.
Create a contingency plan for the event of an attack or breach. A plan for responding to assist businesses to recover quickly after an attack and stop further damage from occurring is crucial to ensure the continuity of business.
Conclusion
The size and scale of the insurance industry places it into the high-risk category for cyber-attacks from cyber criminals. A majority of people are insured of some sort where they're PII (personally identifiable data) is kept. A breach of this could cause irreparable harm to thousands of customers and could cause the insurance company to go out of operating.
A cyber attack that makes the data unusable or inaccessible could cause severe disruptions and financial losses for insurance businesses. So, insurance companies are implementing cybersecurity measures to secure their IT networks.
A program of proactive vigilance and prevention is required to offer the best protection for cyber attacks and threats. Monitoring continuously will help prevent the exploit of multiple entry points for cybercriminals. The most advanced and effective cyber security tools are highly sought-after as the sector is a source of many opportunities for security professionals.