Cybersecurity Innovations: Protecting Insurance Data

Living in a digital world requires specific security measures which will ensure the protection of your company’s trustworthiness to consumers, and the protection of your company’s data. This is accomplished through cybersecurity. In this article, we will discuss the best practices for securing your companies data, innovations in cybersecurity relevant to the insurance agency technology, and information on next steps if you feel that your company could benefit from better data protection.

First, lets highlight a few best practices for securing your company’s data.

Are you keeping your company’s data secure or possibly putting it at risk?

Standard security practices for commercial insurance software and company devices include:

  • Ensuring all insurance technology solutions are up to date.
  • Practicing good password management.
  • Avoiding websites not related to your job functions/duties.
  • Backup and safeguard insurance submission data.

By maintaining up to date software for your operating system and programs, you are keeping your computer protected against operating system threats and 3rd party software vulnerabilities. It is also essential that your preferred browser remain up to date as well. Commonly used web browsers have the option to enable automatic security updates that will allow more secure browsing without having to remember to run a manual update.

Users must also be conscientious of websites visited by paying attention to the address bar to ensure security. Secure websites are identified by having a URL that begins with “https”. Websites not identified as a secure site may lead to vulnerabilities that could place your company’s data at risk.

Additionally, it is imperative to maintain proper password management. This includes changing your password every 30 to 90 days, choosing passwords that do not include personal information such as your name, birthdate, social security number, etc., and not sharing your password information with anyone.

Lastly, securing and backing up your data work together. Often, the same software used to provide data protection will bundle data backups as well. This is a standard practice for security software companies because it is easier to scan data for potential threats, then once determined safe, data can be securely backed up.

Now that we have highlighted some of the best practices for protecting your company’s software and data, lets explore what innovations are being welcomed into the insurance industry.

Cybersecurity innovations for the insurance industry…

As the future of insurance technology continues to evolve, so will cybersecurity aspects. Some of the most popular software applications developed by insurance innovators to protect your company’s data are:

  • Anomaly detection software
  • Predictive analytics software
  • Enhanced visualization software for networks

Insurance companies who currently use a form of fraud detection software to detect fraudulent insurance claims are already on track for a crash course in anomaly detection software. Both software types operate the same way but produce different results. Just as fraud detection software picks up on flagged information to prevent fraud – anomaly detection software goes a step further and detects any abnormality within your company’s data that could pose a security threat.

Predictive analytics software will serve as an overall network protection tool. This software offers a variety of individual applications that will be beneficial to the insurance industry. Predictive analytics software learns patterns of regular activity within an insurance company’s network by classifying activity as “acceptable” or “not acceptable”. This will allow real-time identification of an inconsistency within your company network and be able to determine if the inconsistency comes from a human’s action or possible malware.

Then, to take the security of your insurance company to the next level there is enhanced visualization software for networks. This software combines the features of predictive analysis software and adds in a detailed user-interface that will enable cybersecurity teams to focus on individual threats and risks. This software also will relay in-depth information such as which computer within your company’s network was accessed by hackers and the type of malware they used.

Next, we will highlight the steps that you can take to better protect the data of your company.

Protect your data…

If you feel the need to increase the level of security currently in place within your insurance company, in addition to best practices, you can choose to invest in Cyber Insurance. This will cover general liability for data breaches of sensitive information and should also include legal expenses, regulatory fines or penalties, ID theft repair, and notification expenses.

As Appulate continues to be your leader in insurtech solutions, insurtech trends, and AMS integration – be sure to follow us on all platforms as we share information to educate and empower industry professionals who are doing business digitally.

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