BIO-key's Integrated Solution Could Help Provide A Cost-Effective Cyber Insurance Solution

Organizations that rely on computers and digital media to accomplish vital business tasks would likely have cybersecurity as one of their primary concerns today. 

Banks and financial institutions must be especially careful about cyberattacks as they store vast amounts of their customers’ personal and financial data and any breach could result in huge financial losses for them and their customers while also resulting in complicated lawsuits. 

Customers rely on banks to deploy first-class security measures to safeguard their most valued possessions, financial assets, and information, making trust the most critical component when deciding on who to bank with. When a financial institution falls victim to a data breach or cyber attack, it results in irreparable damage to the foundational trust that underscores the customer-bank relationship. 

The healthcare industry also stores mountains of sensitive data, including patients’ personal information and medical history, and any data security breach causes untold damage to the reputation of the hospitals and the trust with their patients. 

The healthcare and financial services industries are required to adhere to strict compliance regulations like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). To meet strict compliance laws, organizations must implement more robust and harder-to-hack security systems. 

What Is Cyber Insurance?

If a company falls victim to cybercrime and a costly breach occurs, it may not have adequate resources to recover from the damage inflicted by the crime or to recuperate losses. In such cases, cybersecurity insurance may be required to minimize losses and ensure the attacks do not completely cripple the business.  

Cyber insurance is designed to help businesses and individuals hedge against internet-related risks and liabilities, including the potentially devastating effects of cybercrimes such as malware, ransomware, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, or other methods used to compromise a network and sensitive data.

It’s typically cheaper to obtain insurance coverage than to pay for recovery efforts and backup services from a company’s own funds if it is attacked and is often required by industry regulators.

According to IBM IBM, the average cost of a data breach was $4.24 million in 2021, a 10% increase from 2020.

In 2019, a major provider of credit cards and consumer lending  Capital One Financial Corp. COF experienced a large data breach that impacted 100 million people in the United States. According to Reuters, this event resulted in an $80 million penalty apart from customers leaving the Capital One platform. Fortunately for the company, Capital One had $400 million in cyber insurance and was able to avoid severe financial repercussions. 

Cyber Insurance By Itself Is Not The Answer

While many organizations are looking to add cyber insurance to their security arsenals, they may end up paying very high insurance premiums if they do not already have a strong cybersecurity solution in place. 

BIO-key International Inc. BKYI, a provider of secure access-management solutions, believes it may have the right tools to help. 

The company says that its Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) solutions offer the dual benefits of securing the workplace from cyber attacks, while also ensuring a lower cost on cyber insurance. Insurance premiums increasingly tend to be extremely high when the company does not already have adequate security solutions in place.

Multi-factor Authentication is a process that enhances login security by requiring users to verify their identity with more than just a username and password. 

BIO-key’s authentication solution involves the use of Identity-Bound Biometrics (IBB), a type of authentication that verifies the identity of the individual behind the keyboard through biometric factors like fingerprint and palm scanning and face recognition. 

Its signature product — PortalGuard® IDaaS (identity-as-a-service) — supports various authentication options to meet the security goals of most modern organizations, according to the company.

PortalGuard enables accessibility to a suite of apps from multiple devices without requiring the user to manage numerous difficult-to-remember passwords.

Its MFA aspects, including biometric authentication options like IBB, prevent unauthorized access to business applications, which may be especially beneficial in post-COVID times where working remotely has almost become the norm in most organizations. 

A cyber insurance policy is not a substitute for cybersecurity. Companies still need to have a complete security suite installed to remain protected. Cyber insurance can help soften the blow caused by a security breach, complementing the cybersecurity solution in place and serving as part of an overall cyber risk-management plan for companies.

To learn more about BIO-key’s MFA solutions, visit its website.

Featured photo by FLY:D on Unsplash

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