Smaller Companies Facing Cybersecurity Insurance Headwinds: Equifax Executive

WASHINGTON, February 15, 2023 – Smaller companies may face increasing cybersecurity insurance costs as the market evolves, warned an executive at credit bureau company Equifax.

Cybersecurity insurance will be extraordinarily important for small-to-medium-sized businesses, said Jamil Farshchi, executive vice president and chief information security officer. But premium cybersecurity insurance coverage has increased in recent years, with many small-to-medium-sized businesses relying on that cybersecurity insurance to keep them safe.

“These are small businesses that don’t have the resources that larger organizations do,” Farshchi said. “So I worry as the insurance market evolves, the premiums and the coverage levels are getting such that is very difficult.”

Equifax was a victim of one of the country’s most infamous breaches, when in 2017 the data of 147 million Americans were stolen by hackers. The company settled for hundreds of millions of dollars with the Federal Trade Commission.

Experts have urged companies to assume that any outside program is vulnerable to hacking, a position known as “zero trust.” This way, they can take the necessary measures to address the attack.

The United States has been on heightened alert when it comes to cybersecurity issues. Over the last two years, a number of high-profile cybersecurity breaches have impacted a software company, an oil transporter, and a meat producer. Those cybersecurity problems have triggered legislation that requires that the federal government be alerted when critical industries suffer such breaches.

After Russia invaded Ukraine early last year, a number of cybersecurity hacks emerged from those countries, according to an Atlas VPN report shortly after the invasion.