Yes, It is Possible to Save Money on Cyber Insurance

The astronomical cost of cyber insurance has surged in recent years, reflecting the escalating frequency and severity of cyberattacks. As companies rely more on diverse digital platforms and cloud services to do business, often with scattered security oversight, the financial implications of data breaches, ransomware attacks, and other cyber incidents have grown. Dark Reading, in its January 2024 report “With Attacks on the Upswing, Cyber-Insurance Premiums Poised to Rise Too,” stated that despite a lull in premium increases in 2023, they are poised to continue their dramatic rise that started in 2022.

This rise in risk exposure and the opportunity for breach mitigation costs and compliance fines (especially with new regulations and disclosure requirements by global regulators i.e. SEC, NIS2, DORA, etc.) is leading insurers to hike premiums, impose stricter coverage requirements, and in some cases, reduce the limits on policies.

The good news is that premiums can be substantially reduced even in this increasingly risky environment by taking just a few steps to build confidence with your insurer that you are doing everything in your power to reduce your financial exposure, and therefore theirs as well. The trick is to demonstrate robust cybersecurity measures and risk management practices for mitigating potential financial losses in a way that underwriters understand. This can enable you to qualify for more favorable insurance terms. Having a process for determining materiality in the case of a breach and articulating risk management program success in monetary terms help shift the insurance narrative in your favor.

Speaking the Language of Savings

It all boils down to speaking the language of insurance underwriters: Money. More specifically, money that you save your company and money that the insurance company will not need to pay out in the event of a breach.

Many CISOs mistakenly believe that presenting risks and remediation strategies in technical terms to insurers demonstrates a strong cyber posture justifying more affordable insurance rates. Unfortunately, insurers, like boards, are not technical experts, and long screeds about breaches stopped and vulnerabilities mitigated often cause eyes to glaze over.

From a functionality standpoint, underwriters are looking for 5 types of security enhancements, although these need to be translated into terms of financial savings:

Show Me the Money: Balbix Demonstrates Success in Dollars

Balbix transforms cyber risk assessment for insurance underwriters by offering them a holistic and measurable understanding of an organization’s risk landscape, including the successful implementation of the five critical security enhancements sought by underwriters, all presented in financial terms. Through its adaptable dashboarding features, Balbix empowers organizations to present essential metrics and assess risks in concrete terms, such as dollars or other currencies.

With Balbix’s Cyber Risk Quantification (CRQ), insurance underwriters gain access to cyber risks quantified in monetary terms, but a tangible evidence of your cybersecurity investments’ effectiveness. Instead of abstract technical metrics, you’ll present clear, quantifiable data showing how your risk remediation efforts translate into dollars saved.

This transformation from technical jargon to monetary values offers insurers a clear understanding of the potential financial impact of cyber incidents, enabling more informed risk assessment and pricing decisions.

Example: suppose your organization eliminates 85% of its high-impact vulnerabilities that also reduces the likelihood of a data breach by 20%. With CRQ, you can calculate the potential cost savings associated with averting such an incident. This demonstrates to insurers that your cybersecurity initiatives aren’t just theoretical—they deliver concrete savings and enhanced security.

Balbix goes beyond surface-level insights by providing traceability from dollars of risk to specific assets and applications driving the risk. This granular visibility allows insurance underwriters to pinpoint the most critical areas of vulnerability within an organization’s infrastructure and tailor insurance coverage and premiums accordingly.

Conclusion: Securing Savings in a Risky World

In the high-stakes game of cyber insurance, every dollar counts. By speaking the language of insurers—money—and leveraging tools like CRQ to quantify risks and demonstrate financial success, you can unlock significant savings on your cyber insurance premiums. So don’t be fooled into thinking that cost-effective cyber insurance is beyond reach. With the right strategies and evidence-based approach, you can protect your organization’s bottom line while safeguarding against digital threats.

Request a demo today and see how Balbix can help you justify lower insurance premiums with Cyber Risk Quantification.