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Lowering Your Cybersecurity Insurance Premiums

Lowering Your Cybersecurity Insurance Premiums

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Currently where online crime is rampant, it has become critical to have a reliable cybersecurity insurance plan. This layer of protection is especially true for small businesses that mainly operate in an online environment. Insurance will provide considerable financial protection in the event of an online attack.

While most business owners understand its importance, many still opt not to purchase cybersecurity insurance. Why? It’s because the premiums can get high. Many believe the risk isn’t enough to justify spending thousands of dollars on coverage. If you are lucky, then you probably won’t become a victim. But it’s not smart to wish for luck to keep you safe, especially when you realize how much damage a single attack can incur.

Is Cybersecurity Insurance Expensive?

The steep cost of cybersecurity insurance is understandable because of the very high perceived risk. Online crime has become not just more prevalent but also much more complex. The damage is extensive, and insurance companies have no choice but to raise their premiums to keep offering complete coverage.

Another reason for the high premiums is the massive payouts that companies pay out because of data breaches. Businesses that collect sensitive data, like healthcare and banking, have even higher premiums. These companies are prime targets for hackers and therefore have a higher risk factor.

How to Qualify for Lower Cybersecurity Insurance Premiums

Now we get to how to lower your insurance premiums. The fee reduction is much simpler than other insurance, like healthcare or vehicles. Usually, you need to tick a box on the form or sign a waiver. With cybersecurity insurance, it’s not so straightforward. But not to worry. There are ways to reduce the premiums you need to pay.

Do an Annual Penetration Test

This test will check how robust your security measures are to protect your business from a cyberattack. You can do this test yourself, but we recommend you partner with a managed services provider for this task. With this test, you can identify your system’s weak points to improve them. Insurance companies will see that you are not at risk and list you for a lower premium.

Choose Secure Passwords

This task might seem basic, but insurance companies check the password control policy when assessing applicants. A more secure policy will entitle you to lower premiums, as will a two-factor authorization, or 2FA, login policy. You should also train your employees to choose their passwords wisely. An employee readiness check will reveal how much your staff knows about the importance of passwords and other security issues.

Do Data Encryption

Again, this is something that most companies already do these days. Encrypting confidential and sensitive data is vital for protection. You can improve your data encryption methods considerably with the help of a managed services provider.

Use Your Current Insurance Provider

If you already have an insurance provider for general business liability insurance or property insurance, you can purchase your cybersecurity insurance from them if they offer it. There’s a good chance that you can get a discount from a bundle deal.

Get Peace of Mind with Reliable and Affordable Cybersecurity Insurance

Getting your business insured will surely give you peace of mind in a world riddled with online crime. But you don’t always have to pay top dollar for the best coverage. Following the strategies above and learning the tips discussed in our eBook, you can get great insurance with affordable premiums. Our cybersecurity experts can help you with a risk assessment and finding the best insurance coverage that matches your needs.

Small Business Cybersecurity Risks

Small Business Cybersecurity Risks

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Digital technology continues to evolve which can result in cybersecurity risks. The good news is these changes bring a multitude of new ways that businesses can grow. But along with these developments, there are also the growing risks of online threats. No matter how you try to protect yourself, there will always be a prevailing danger every time you enter the online environment. Even large multinational corporations sometimes become victims of cyber-attacks. So, it is no challenge to breach small businesses and cause cybersecurity risks.

Addressing Inadequate Security Measures

The good news is those small businesses are not helpless despite the alarming rise in the volume and severity of cyber-attacks in recent years. We can apply several easy but effective steps to mitigate cybersecurity risks. If you look at the most common reasons businesses fall victim to online attacks, it almost always boils down to poor security measures.

For instance, many employees still use weak passwords and have not received training on internet security measures. Many companies use old verification systems or simple authentication methods, leaving their data vulnerable to online attackers.

These are issues that even small businesses can address using an up-to-date cybersecurity strategy. If you don’t have the means to implement this kind of protection, you can always enlist the services of a managed service provider specializing in cybersecurity solutions. We’ll tell you more about this at the end of this blog.

How to Bolster Online Security

If your business gets infiltrated by hackers, it can cost a lot in different aspects. You can lose customers, lose revenue, and experience slow operations. It might even force you to shut down your business in case of customer or vendor data loss. To avoid this trouble, you can take some simple steps right now to bolster online security and prevent online attacks from ruining your business.

Train Your Employees

Most hackers do not directly attack a company’s database or network but go through the weakest path of entry: the employees. Seemingly harmless emails and links might be traps set up by online criminals to get into your system. Every employee must be wary of these suspicious links and know-how to identify possible online threats in various forms.

Update Your System

Technology changes rapidly. The system that once gave you ironclad protection may now be a flimsy wall of defense. Once you miss an update to your system, your entire business will become vulnerable to new malware that hackers have recently developed. It is therefore critical to ensure that your security is always up to date.

Have a Reliable Backup and Recovery Plan

Despite all your protective measures to mitigate cybersecurity risks, you can’t be 100% always protected. Therefore, it is vital to have a reliable backup system and quick recovery plan to bring your system back in order in case of an attack. A managed services provider can help you set up a recovery strategy to minimize your losses and get you back into regular operation as soon as possible.

Partnering with an MSP Can Significantly Reduce Your Cybersecurity Risks

Cybersecurity threats will always exist, but there are plenty of ways to defend your business against these threats, like partnering with a dependable Managed Service Provider. In our eBook, “The Ultimate Guide to Finding and Hiring a Superstar IT Solutions Provider for Businesses,” we discuss how an MSP can help you get maximum protection for your business. Send us a message if you want to learn more!

Cybersecurity Insurance Policy

Understanding a Dependable Cybersecurity Insurance Policy

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By now, most businesses are aware of the cybersecurity dangers that lurk on the internet. But despite the awareness, many companies still fall prey to all sorts of online attacks. Some victims are even large, multinational corporations that you would think would have a bulletproof security system in place.

The thing is that hackers are continuously innovating the ways they attack us. By developing new means of breaching security, they can get their hands on our data. It is also likely that many of us are just not as prepared as we think. In any case, one action we can take to minimize damage and recover faster is to have a dependable cybersecurity insurance program.

What is Cybersecurity Insurance?

Cybersecurity insurance is a specific type of insurance to minimize financial risk due to online attacks. It won’t, unfortunately, make you immune to attacks. However, a reliable policy will absorb considerable damage, helping you recover more lost assets.

The internet has been around for some time, but cybersecurity is still a relatively new problem. Policymakers constantly analyze the changing online environment to offer the best insurance programs. Likewise, businesses need to be very discriminating in choosing a policy that gives them the quality and level of protection they need.

Is Cybersecurity Insurance Vital for Businesses?

Data loss or damage can have dire consequences for a business. It can lead to the shutdown of operations and ultimately cause massive losses in earnings. The inconvenience might cause clients to take their business elsewhere. It can even leave you with expensive legal liabilities.

Cybersecurity insurance can keep businesses protected in the event of cyber attacks. Specifically, a good insurance policy will cover a wide range of online threats, including terrorist attacks. If your business becomes the target of an attack and a data breach happens, your cybersecurity insurance can cover expenses related to remediation.

Many insurance policies also include coverage for notification expenses. If a security breach happens, businesses are required by law to notify all clients and to conform to many post-breach requirements. These procedures can be costly and add more expenses to your business, which is already suffering the effects of a cyber attack. Adding this coverage to your insurance plan gives you one less thing to worry about.

Be Better Protected Against Cyber Attacks

As you can see, one critical step is finding a reliable cybersecurity insurance company as soon as possible. You never know when a breach might occur, so it’s best to have protection now. If you want to know where and how to find a good insurance program, you will find some helpful tips in our eBook, The Ultimate Guide to Finding and Hiring a Superstar IT Solutions Provider for Businesses.

It’s always better to prevent the problem and not fixing it after it has happened. The best way to do this is to ensure that your employees get trained to circumvent attacks. You might think they would know not to open certain emails or click on certain links, but you might be wrong.

You can assess your staff is when it comes to online attacks by having them take an employee readiness check. Keep in mind that awareness is your first defense against these threats. Combine that with an ironclad cybersecurity insurance plan, and your business will be ready to take on the digital world. If you have any questions, give us a call!

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Welcome Blog

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Starting in 2019 Applied Technology Group will be creating a blog. This blog’s main purpose will be to provide an informative resource on what is happening in the world of technology. If you are not familiar with us as a company we provide multiple services revolving around the tech space. We primarily do IT support, phone systems, and surveillance/security systems. We are conveniently located in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Coliseum blvd. just next to Metal X. Since 1996 we have been serving the Fort Wayne area with quality, reliability, and service in mind. Be on the lookout for our upcoming blogs that will be highlighting relatable tech topics!