How can you secure your data in the insurance industry?

1. Identify and catalog all data assets. 2. Store data in secure, monitored locations. 3. Control and monitor access to sensitive data. 4. Classify data by sensitivity and value. 5. Encrypt confidential and high-value data. 6. Implement regular data backups for safety. 7. Conduct periodic security audits and assessments. 8. Use access control tools for data protection. 9. Apply strict data handling and sharing policies. 10. Update security protocols as threats evolve.

In the insurance sector, data is our lifeblood, but securing it is a growing challenge. Key to our data security strategy? Identifying our data assets. It's a foundational step often overlooked, yet critical for robust data protection. Understanding what data we have, where it resides, and its value is essential. At our company, we conducted a comprehensive data audit. This process involved classifying data, from customer personal information to financial records. The revelation? Vast amounts of sensitive data scattered across various systems. For any insurance company, knowing your data assets isn’t just an IT task; it’s the first step in safeguarding your most valuable resource and business.

Begin by enumerating all the data resources of your business, including customer’s details and information. Sort the data based on its level of sensitivity and criticality and placing tight control access measures in places, only allowing authorized personnel to gain entry into sensitive information. This may be done through role-based access control as well as encryption. Perform regular audits to review who accesses the data and check whether there is any inappropriate grant of permissions. Make sure your data security practices meet industry standards set by GDPR, HIPAA or other sufficient regulations. To deal with data breaches or security incidents you should have a proper incident response framework in place.

Data discovery and classification is the foundation for securing your data. If you can't find it, you can't protect it. An approach that one of the largest insurance providers in North America takes is: 1. Scan the network for both known and unknown data sources. 2. Create an inventory report of all data sources 3. Scan inside each source for structured and unstructured data. 4. Create a data report. From here, one can now set data policies to comply with relevant regulations and de-risk their data environment. Be mindful of tools that result in high positives as protecting data relies on accuracy. Unfortunately you need to be right 100% of the time when a bad actor only needs to be right once.

1 - Understand compliance requirements principles: > Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency, Data Minimization, Accuracy, Limitation of Storage, Integrity and Confidentiality and Accountability. 2 - Conduct a data protection impact assessment. > Map data flow to understand the risks. 3 - Implement strong data protection policies 4 - Secure personal data 5 - Train employees > This helps in preventing data breaches due to human error. 6 - Regular audit checks 7 - Appoint a data protection officer (DPO)

Undertake an extensive evaluation of the risks and potential threats by training all employees on the policy governing data security and ensure they understand their duties. Specify concise access control guidelines to limit the exposure of sensitive information with principles, such as limiting level authorized. Make provisions that require strong authentication processes and role-based access controls to ensure only authorized individuals can view specific data. Install effective monitoring and auditing measures to monitor data access as well incident suspicious activities through routine audits. Create an incident response plan involving methods of isolating the breach, informing those affected and restoring lost integrity.

Implementing a robust data security policy is crucial in the insurance sector, especially when handling sensitive Personal Health Information (PHI) and Payment Card Information (PCI). My experience has shown that a well-crafted policy is a linchpin of data security. Data security policy, shaped around PHI and PCI compliance, outlines strict protocols for handling, storing, and transmitting sensitive data. For PHI, it means adhering to HIPAA guidelines, ensuring that patient data is not just secure but also handled with the utmost confidentiality. For PCI, it's about complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). A comprehensive data security policy is a trust pact with our clients.

A security policy (also called an information security policy or IT security policy) is a document that spells out the rules, expectations, and overall approach that an organization uses to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its data. Security policies exist at many different levels, from high-level constructs that describe an enterprise’s general security goals and principles to documents addressing specific issues, such as remote access or Wi-Fi use.

A data security policy can be thought of as the baseline of data security actions to be implemented in the organization. Its better to adopt security framework as well as customizing de facto security standards as per the need.

Implementing data security policies will vary depending on the approach taken. When the IT environment is simple, most approaches will suffice. Implementing policies at scale is a challenge that requires a more sophisticated approach. Insurance requires an approach that can handle complicated data access rights based on consents, regulations, and survivor purchase options, among others. If operating at the network level, organizations can set role-based access controls (RBAC) and attribute-based access controls (ABAC) in a way that provides granular control, is transparent to the end user, and does not require any code changes. As data regulations increase, approaches that do not impact existing workflows will be critical.

Provide training workshops that includes discussions on handling confidential information, detecting phishing attempts, secure communications channels involved in data security. Conduct simulated phishing simulations from time to time to assess how employees recognize and handle potential schemes. Offer educational materials to customers regarding setting up better passwords, identifying social engineering exploits and understanding how the insurance firm secures its data. Keeping staff and customers informed of recent security threats by newsletters, email updates or specific security awareness campaigns. Make sure that employees are aware of the specific data protection laws applicable within the insurance sector, whether GDPR or HIPAA.

Education should be ongoing. In addition, ensuring the identity of the individual accessing the data is table stakes. Simple solutions include two-factor authentication to avoid social engineering and other tactics from working. Despite our best efforts, breaches will occur. To mitigate the impact of a data breach it is critical for security teams to have role-based and attribute-based access controls. Setting controls can limit the access to the type and amount of data when uncharacteristic behaviour is identified. As staff and customers do their best, security teams can limit the data visible in real-time so that only the data necessary for the action is accessed at any given time.

Meiner Meinung nach ist die Sensibilisierung der Mitarbeiter UND der GF ein entscheidender Faktor. Die Mitarbeiter sind meist nicht aus dem gleichen Umfeld wie wir aus der Sicherheitsbranche. Faktisch haben Sie nicht die täglichen Berührungen der verschiedenen Angriffs-Szenarien, die tatsächlich passieren können. Auch das Ausmaß dessen, was möglich ist, kann gar nicht nachvollzogen werden. Schulungen werden größtenteils gemacht, "wenn" es notwendig ist. Die Mitarbeiter/Kunden zu sensibilisieren funktioniert, ach wunder, nur mit entsprechender Kommunikation aus dem realen Leben. Newsletter, besondere Vorkommnisse mitteilen oder auch Applikationen, die es „EINFACH“ machen etwas Ungewöhnliches zu reporten sind hilfreich.

Data is the most crucial asset of an organization and it is the prime target of hackers. Data is stored on systems, hosted within environments and exposed to end users. All of these can be sources of threats and risk factors to consider. Systems and IT environment should be regularly patched and updated. A vulnerability management program should ensure that all top risks are remediated quickly within SLA. Access control to data and systems should be controlled, restricted, tracked and audited frequently. All systems and network should be implemented in a secure-by-default configuration and adhering to a minimum security baseline.

On top of updating systems and software, it is critical to ensure that production data never resides outside the production environment. Environments outside of production are often most at risk as they can easily fall behind on patches, upgrades and monitoring as organizations continue to grow, expand, and take on new initiatives. Some actions to take include implementing test data management, and file integrity monitoring. Test data that looks and feels like real data is a good way for organizations to test and innovate while de-risking their environment. File integrity monitoring is critical for de-risking online channels from being hacked to collect sensitive data.

Der Artikel hierzu könnte weitaus länger sein, als die verfügbaren Zeichen. 1) Patchen/Aktualisieren ist wichtig - auch das Prüfen, ob es gegriffen hat, ist extrem wichtig! 2)ZeroDay Exploits, meist nur schwer im Vorhinein zu bewältigen, Hersteller agieren hier schon sehr schnell mit Updates, die Ressourcen um es umzusetzen innerhalb der eigenen Landschaft „kann“ herausfordernd werden. 3)Kenne deine Lücken, kenne deine Schwächen! Das Investieren in notwendige Lösungen fällt dann leichter und ist auch greifbarer! 4)BCM ist ein BUSINESS THEMA, demnach geht es nicht nur um einfaches Backup, sondern der möglichen Aufrechterhaltung der kritischen Systeme/ den Betrieb im Falle eines Angriffs. Auch das muss getestet werden!

External certification and meeting standards are good. A key part of the strategy is the Human element. An aware and responsive workforce is a force multiplier for defence and offence in protecting data

There are different methods and tools that organizations can use to assess their risk and compliance in various areas, such as data security, ethics, governance, and finance. Steps: 1. One of the common steps in any risk and compliance assessment is to identify the relevant laws, regulations, standards, and best practices that apply to the organization’s activities and objectives. 2. Evaluate the current state of the organization’s policies, procedures, controls, and performance in relation to those requirements. 3. Identify the gaps, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement, and prioritize the actions to address them. 4. Monitor and review the progress and effectiveness of the actions, and update the assessment as needed.

There is assessing governance practices and then when it comes to data, organizations need to be able to: 1. Find all their data. 2. Classify it accurately. 3. Protect it with the appropriate protocol. The first two steps are the most challenging as data environments have become increasingly complex. Organizations have taken approaches that remove sensitive data from their environments entirely to simplify compliance. Regular internal and external audits should be performed to ensure the evolving standards are met.

A security risk assessment identifies, assesses, and implements key security controls in applications. It also focuses on preventing application security defects and vulnerabilities. Carrying out a risk assessment allows an organization to view the application portfolio holistically—from an attacker’s perspective.

Um Risiken und Compliance sicherzustellen, ist ein umfassendes Risikomanagement essenziell. Es umfasst auch die Schulungen der Mitarbeiter zu Compliance und Datenschutz, um die eigenen Fehler zu reduzieren. Die Implementierung von Überwachungstechnologien zur kontinuierlichen Risikobewertung ist mehr als wichtig für das Business wie auch für den planbaren Managementaufwand. Was sind die gesetzlichen Regelungen und Abläufe, die auch zulässig sind. Regelmäßige interne und externe Audits sowie Disaster Recovery tests sind entscheidend, um Compliance-Standards zu überwachen und kontinuierlich zu verbessern.

What an organization outsources (or not) will be a function of Organizational structure and risk (or cost) apetite. Whichever direction you go, the accountability of data, it's security compliance and so on will remain with the company

Outsourcing data security services is better option provided that due diligence, accountability is treated with utmost priority.

When partnering with a provider, ensure that they also undergo the same compliance audits and exceed the data storage requirements expected. As organizations increase their partner ecosystem and use of applications, they have unknowingly created several holes in their networks. It is crucial to have a mechanism in place to identify, control, and protect data leakage/vulnerabilities. For payment data partners, PCI SSC Level 1 Service Provider should be a baseline requirement when considering a partner. Additionally, managed service providers may be able to take on some of the responsibility of compliance audits to simplify navigating the regulatory environment.

Choose reliable partners In some cases, you may have to delegate or collaborate on some of your data tasks or operations with external providers. You need to choose reliable partners who can give you sufficient data security promises and proofs. You should check their qualifications, accreditations, and reputation, and examine their contracts, policies, and procedures. You should keep track of the defined KPIs to measure performance, compliance and other metrics

In addition to data security, privacy is also an important factor that should be considered - since it impacts rules, regulations and compliance requirements. Especially in the insurance industry which houses sensitive PII data - it should be ensured that data is collected minimally and used only the business purpose for which it was collected. The org collecting the data should have strict contracts with third parties with which it shares data. The org should use data handling techniques like: tokenization, encryption, hashing, obfuscation, randomization, aggregation, etc for further data security. Apps and systems should be designed to implement GDPR data subject rights.

Insurance companies have been collecting data long before email was created. When thinking about data security, it is critical your tools have the capabilities to handle the complex nuances of the insurance industry, like historical data.

Some best practices: Developing, implementing, maintaining and Complying with relevant regulations, standards that apply to the insurance industry, as IDSS in the US, GDPR in EU, and GIC in India. Conducting regular risk assessments and audits to identify and address potential threats and vulnerabilities in their data systems, networks, and processes. Implementing technical and administrative controls to safeguard confidentiality, integrity, availability, consistency of their data, as encryption, authentication, authorization, backup, recovery, and monitoring. Training of staff, partners on the importance of data security and best practices to follow, using strong passwords, avoiding phishing emails, and reporting suspicious activities.

Other than the fact Insurance industry may involve PII or even PHI in larger quantums, the fundamentas protection won't change. I would like to think about those fundamentals as minimum necessary and need to have/know for any type of data. What changes is how the regulators and customer demands may influence the requirements and thus the strategy. For instance in certain markets / for certain government run establishments (like Defence forces) their employee data is required to be hosted on a community cloud vs public cloud, it requires a certain grade of encryption like fips.and then there may be localization requirements. These become the minimum conditions to meet across dimensions of identity, access and storage etc.