How Pen Testing Can Soften the Impact of Rising Cyber Insurance Fees
As technology advances and organizations become more data dependent, the risks associated with data breaches and cyberattacks also increase. The introduction of data privacy laws, such as the GDPR, has made it mandatory for organizations to disclose personal data breaches to those affected. Thus, it becomes important for businesses to protect themselves from the financial and reputational costs of cyber incidents.
One solution to help organizations protect themselves is cyber insurance, although cyber insurance costs are increasing, where on average US prices up 79% in the second quarter of 2022. In addition, with the stringent eligibility requirements that emerged in response to risks and the sharp spikes in successful breaches during and post-COVID-19, cyber insurance remains critical for organizations to protect sensitive customer information and their data themselves from falling into the wrong hands.
While cyber insurance is not a one-size-fits-all solution and may not cover every conceivable scenario, it can help organizations mitigate the financial and reputational risks associated with cyber attacks and data breaches. Nearly every modern organization uses, transmits, or stores data, which means almost every modern business relies on cyber insurance as part of its overall risk management strategy.
Understanding Cyber Insurance Eligibility
When it comes to offering cyber insurance, providers start by evaluating an organization’s cybersecurity risk profile, which includes assessing whether regular penetration testing is performed. Depending on the results, as well as other findings in the assessment, eligibility (and rates) can change significantly.
Pen testing is an effective way to detect vulnerabilities in web applications before attackers can exploit them. This helps organizations better understand application attack surfaces and remediate vulnerabilities before they turn into serious threats. However, traditional pen test shipments took weeks to prepare, and the results were timely, leaving critical application vulnerabilities exposed longer than necessary.
A new wave of automated pen testing is delivered via a software as a service (SaaS) delivery model, known as Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS), solves this problem. PTaaS provides continuous monitoring, reducing the risk of cyber attacks. Organizations have direct access to pen testers and a knowledge base on how to fix vulnerabilities, enabling IT and development teams to remediate them effectively.
PTaaS provides real-time vulnerability findings through a portal that displays all relevant data for debugging vulnerabilities and verifying the effectiveness of remediation. This approach is perfect for agile organizations that need a cost-effective and flexible way to audit and secure web applications at scale.
Using a PTaaS solution, organizations can perform regular pen tests without the time-consuming and resource-consuming traditional delivery model. This proactive approach helps identify and remediate vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them, giving organizations peace of mind that their cybersecurity posture is strong. Understandably, having such a solution will give insurers peace of mind that you are running regular tests, which can have a big impact on your cyber insurance eligibility – and the impact on your budget.
To help maintain a strong cybersecurity program, reduce the risk of cyberattacks, and make insurance providers smile, consider a PTaaS solutions as part of your overall cybersecurity strategy.
Risk Reduction, Automated Guarantees, and Visible Vulnerabilities
Outpost24 provides a variety of application pen testing services to help organizations identify and remediate vulnerabilities and logic errors in real-time for faster fixes. By combining automated scanning with high-quality manual testing cycles, organizations get the most accurate view of vulnerability findings.
With cyber threats constantly evolving, continuous monitoring of your web applications is essential to detect new changes. Security experts will then review the changes, and perform a thorough penetration test to assess application risk and ensure that any new vulnerabilities can be checked.
Contact Outpost24 to learn more about web application pen testing services and how you maintain a strong cybersecurity posture that keeps insurance companies happy and keeps threats out.
