BDI Global, a cyber policy program manager, in partnership with Havoc Shield, a comprehensive cybersecurity program-as-a-service built for SMBs, have announced the launch of a new cyber product, Shield Up.
The program, supported by a Beazley facility, is a cyber risk assessment and remediation platform designed to make cyber liability insurance more accessible to small businesses.
According to the announcement, already accelerated SMB application bind time by an average of 40%.
Michael Lamprecht, President of BDI Global, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership: “For over ten years, BDI Global’s sole focus has been designing and developing cyber risk insurance programs for SMBs.
“Our partnership with Havoc Shield represents the next evolution of that mission. With Shield Up, we’re not only providing a more accessible path to quality cyber liability insurance – we’re offering small businesses a way to quickly and easily become more resilient to cyber threats.”
With the increase in volume and sophistication of cyberattacks over the last few years, small companies – under $100 million in revenue – have found it especially difficult to meet carriers’ rising standards, the firm explained.
Shield Up was created as a response to this issue. Its online portal offers a path for these businesses to quickly understand what IT security controls prevent them from obtaining full and affordable coverage.
It allows them to immediately adopt underwriting-vetted solutions provided by Havoc Shield to close those gaps and bind a policy.
The program uses automated scanning technology and an automated control verification process to transform the underwriting process, which leads to a streamlined buying experience for insureds and their brokers.
Brian Fritton, CEO & Founder of Havoc Shield, said: “With Shield Up, we aim to go beyond the current trend of arming underwriters with a better risk assessment through scanning technology. We want to help the applicant actually do the homework to fill gaps and become a better risk.
“Ultimately, this makes small businesses less likely to suffer financial and reputational losses from a breach or ransomware attack. We’ve done this by employing the same award-winning experience we use in our core offering to the often confusing experience of understanding and meeting cyber insurance requirements.”
