The Situation
In recent years, companies purchasing cyber insurance have faced a rapidly evolving landscape marked by rising premiums, stricter underwriting requirements, and increased scrutiny of cybersecurity practices.
Insurers are now demanding detailed evidence of risk mitigation efforts – such as the existence of threat detection and response capabilities – before issuing or renewing policies. Coverage limits have tightened, and exclusions for certain types of attacks, like ransomware, have become more common.
As a result, businesses are increasingly focused on strengthening their security posture not only to reduce the likelihood of a breach but also to qualify for more favorable insurance terms and lower premiums. This shift has made cybersecurity a strategic priority as part of a company’s risk management and financial planning.
MSPs Can Play a Critical Role
MSPs (Managed Service Providers) can play a critical role in helping companies navigate the evolving cyber insurance landscape. By delivering robust, managed security services, MSPs can help their clients meet insurers' stricter requirements—such as threat detection and response capabilities.
MSPs can also provide documentation and reporting that demonstrate a strong security posture, which is often required during the underwriting process. Furthermore, they can help businesses rapidly respond to threats and reduce dwell time, a key factor insurers consider when assessing risk.
Ultimately, by partnering with an MSP, companies can not only improve their chances of obtaining cyber insurance but also potentially reduce premiums and avoid policy exclusions through measurable, ongoing risk reduction.
ContraForce Helps MSPs
ContraForce can help Managed Service Providers (MSPs) reduce their customers' cyber insurance costs by improving their cybersecurity posture and demonstrating measurable security controls. Here’s how:
- Centralized Security Posture Management
ContraForce aggregates and normalizes security data from various endpoint and SIEM tools, with SIEM tools themselves collecting data from many security data sources, giving MSPs a unified view of a customer’s security landscape. This makes it easier to:
- Identify and remediate security incidents faster.
- Show continuous compliance with security frameworks like NIST, CIS, and ISO 27001.
- Provide evidence of risk mitigation strategies during insurance underwriting or renewal processes.
- Real-Time Threat Detection and Response
ContraForce enables rapid detection and response across Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Sentinel, and other integrated tools. Insurance providers favor businesses that:
- Can detect and contain breaches quickly.
- Use automated response workflows to limit damage.
- Maintain audit logs and incident documentation.
These capabilities lower the perceived risk, which insurers consider when calculating premiums.
- Demonstrable Risk Reduction
ContraForce quantifies improvements in risk posture over time, for example fewer active threats. MSPs can report on these results for their customers so they can:
- Proactively communicate security maturity to insurance underwriters.
- Justify reduced premiums or qualify for better coverage terms.
- Compliance Mapping and Reporting
Cyber insurance providers often require evidence of controls like endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools. ContraForce helps MSPs:
- Continuously monitor for gaps in required controls.
- Generate compliance-ready reports for policy applications or audits.
- Cost-Effective, Scalable SOC Services
By delivering SOC-as-a-Service capabilities through ContraForce, MSPs can offer enterprise-grade security to small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) without them having to build their own SOC. This enhances their customers’ security profile at a fraction of the cost. Having SOC capabilities can positively influence insurance rates for SMBs.
Lower Insurance Costs
As a result of outsourcing security services to an MSP powered by ContraForce, customers can lower their cyber insurance costs by demonstrating:
- Enhanced visibility and response.
Real-time visibility into threats and faster incident response significantly reduce the likelihood and severity of breaches. Insurers recognize this as a strong indicator of lower risk, which can lead to better premiums and policy terms.
This is especially true when it comes to ransomware. Breaches are a precursor to ransomware. By reducing the likelihood of breaches, organizations can mitigate their ransomware exposure and materially influence their premiums.
- Compliance and reporting.
Compliance tracking ensures critical security controls are continuously monitored and documented. This makes it easier to prove compliance with insurer requirements, reducing the underwriting burden and potentially qualifying the business for discounts.
- Quantifiable and demonstrated cyber risk reduction.
By showing measurable improvements – like increased control coverage, and a reduction in active threats – companies can demonstrate lower risk to insurers. This data-driven approach helps justify lower premiums and improved coverage.
- Meeting insurer-required controls more effectively.
Insurers often mandate specific security measures (e.g., endpoint protection). Ensuring these controls are properly implemented and maintained, reducing the chance of coverage denials or surcharges.
For customers working with MSPs who use ContraForce, these measures should lead to lower risk, fewer incidents, reduced claims and lower cyber insurance costs.
