How to Navigate Cyber Insurance Policies

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗕𝗲 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀—𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗪𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝗼 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲 Here’s a hard truth most business owners learn 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 a breach: 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘁. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁. And if you can’t prove you met every condition—𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵. ✅ 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱! ❌ But you didn’t report the incident in time. ❌ You didn’t have Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) turned on everywhere. ❌ You missed a hidden clause requiring their approved vendors. That’s when the insurer says “𝘿𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙙.” And you’re left holding the bag. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱: • Ransomware? Only if a buried clause doesn’t limit it to $25K. • Email fraud? Not unless you added a “social engineering” rider. • Downtime from AWS? Might not be covered if it’s not your owned system. • Legal fees & fines? Sure—if you notified them within 24 hours. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼—𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆: 🔍 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴𝘀: • Vague trigger language (“What counts as a breach?”) • Unrealistic reporting timelines • Hidden sub-limits for high-cost events (ransomware, BEC) • Coverage restricted to owned systems (not SaaS, cloud, IaaS) • Exclusions based on patching, MFA, or backup failures 🛡️ 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝘁 “𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆.” 𝗗𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱: 1. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻-𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 of what is—and isn’t—covered. 2. 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀. If a breach would cost $500K but you’re only covered for $100K, that’s a financial trap. 3. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱. One covers breaches, the other covers deception and wire fraud. 4. 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝘀. Can you prove you had MFA, backups, and endpoint protection in place 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 the breach? 5. 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. If you can’t prove it, it didn’t happen.     𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲: When it hits the fan, insurers won’t ask if you 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 to secure your business. They’ll ask if you can 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 you did everything you said you 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱. Let’s make sure the answer is 𝗬𝗘𝗦. 📩 If you're unsure about your policy, reply or DM me—we’ll walk you through a free cyber insurance readiness check. Intelligent Technical Solutions Mike Rhea🔒🛡️ #CyberInsurance #RiskManagement #SmallBusiness #CyberSecurity #InsuranceClaims #Ransomware #BEC #MSP #DataProtection #CyberLiability #InsuranceReview #Leadership #OfficeManager #BusinessContinuity #CyberCrime #MFA #BusinessRisk #ITSasap

Exposed by Association: The Hidden Dangers of Vicarious Liability Provisions in Cyber Insurance Business leaders regularly rely on external vendors to handle and secure sensitive client information. However, they must be conscious of potential risks like vicarious liability. Picture a hypothetical situation where ABC Corp has a cyber insurance policy and contracted with XYZSecure to manage and secure their client's sensitive data. Unfortunately, XYZSecure suffered a data breach due to subpar security protocols which they falsely claimed met industry standards. The breach led to the theft of ABC Corp's customer data, resulting in substantial financial losses due to identity theft, fraud, and legal claims against ABC Corp. ABC Corp turns to its cyber insurance provider to cover financial losses and defense costs resulting from the breach. The insurer denies ABC Corp's claim because the policy's vicarious liability clause excludes coverage for third-party service provider incidents, exposing them to the full financial damages of the data breach from XYZSecure's security breach. "Proactive" Considerations: ♟ Rigorously evaluate the cybersecurity protocols of third-party vendors. ♟ Engage with cyber defense and legal advisors to establish and understand service obligations, limitation of liabilities, indemnification, and hold harmless stipulations within service agreements. ♟ Clearly understand how your cyber insurance covers third-party-related incidents arising from acts performed on your behalf. ♟ Ensure awareness of how vendors’ cyber insurance policies address similar risks. 🛑Note: Cyber insurance coverage and exclusions differ across insurers and policy forms. No one policy is written the same. Therefore, leaders must scrutinize policy terms to understand the specific exclusions that apply. #vicariousliability #breach #cyberinsurance #cyberdefense #vendors #contracts #risksmitigation #protectwhatmattersmost

Will Your Cyber Insurance Pay Out? Read This and Decide for Yourself. The Fear: A CISO colleague recently told me their cyber insurance did not “pay out” after an incident. Could that happen to you? The Case for Yes: There are public cases where insurers denied claims because the insured misrepresented their safeguards on the application. When you apply for cyber insurance, those security controls become warranties in the policy contract—meaning if you said MFA was enabled everywhere but can’t prove it, your claim could be denied. The Case for No: Insurers and brokers will often say claims always get paid. But “paid” doesn’t always mean paid in full or on time. Was the payout timely? (or did it take months of disputes? Was it paid in full? (or did exclusions reduce the amount?) Was it only partially covered? (or did coverage gaps leave a financial hole?) How to Close the Gap: If you want full and timely payout, treat your security warranties like compliance requirements. ✅ Review what you submitted on the insurance application. These are binding conditions, not just best-effort security controls. ✅ Check your policy for embedded security requirements. Some are explicit, others are hidden in exclusions. ✅ Combine both into a single compliance list. What security controls must be provable to avoid claim disputes? ✅ Run an internal resilience audit. If ransomware hit today, could you prove compliance before filing a claim? How many of you have actually verified you do what you promised in your insurance application? In the case of the CISO I referred to, they shared that their insurance did not pay in full as they negotiated down the payment due to attestations in the application that were contradicted when the DFIR team found that the root cause of the incident was due to the completeness of a safeguard that they attested was in place (MFA “everywhere”). Make it count: Cyber insurance should be an asset, not a gamble. The difference between payout and denial often comes down to proof, not intent. Create the proof. >>> Get in with us as an early adopter. DM me for details. #CyberInsurance #RiskManagement #CyberResilience #Claims #Spektrum