Microsoft announces partnership with At-Bay, a cyber insurance company, and a multiyear plan to help the insurance industry create cyber insurance products.
Businesses in the U.S. that use Microsoft 365 are eligible for discounts on At-Bay cyber insurance if certain security controls are implemented like multifactor authentication and Microsoft Defender.
Rotem Iram, co-founder and CEO of At-Bay, said no one has a bigger opportunity to increase the security of small and medium-sized businesses across the U.S. than Microsoft.
“Working together we can have a huge impact on the security of our clients,” Iram said.
Microsoft invested in At-Bay nearly two years ago and has participated in the company’s last three funding rounds. The two companies have been having conversations about working together for a while.
“As part of Microsoft’s commitment to helping customers execute their holistic cyber security strategies and address residual risk, it recognizes that cyber insurance policies are a key way to mitigate the impact of data breaches and ransomware attacks. Microsoft is invested in building partnerships with insurance providers to complement our solutions, and At-Bay is the right first partnership due to its similarly modern approach to risk management through its real-time, continuous, and actionable vulnerability monitoring," said Ann Johnson, Microsoft's corporate vice president of security, compliance & identity business development, in a statement to Digital Insurance.
Microsoft and At-Bay are also working together to educate and provide more solutions for customers.
“The idea is to create a strong incentive program,” Iram said. “Let’s be honest, most small businesses aren’t interested in security for intellectual curiosity. They do it when they think it is important. We show them it would make an impact on their insurance, that these security controls can save money and reduce risk. Education is easier when there is an incentive.”
At-Bay reports that it has been able to lower ransomware claims and actively make its customers less risky.
“You are getting an insurance policy, but we are making you safer with meaningful security monitoring and active risk monitoring services, proven to reduce your chance of a ransomware event,” Iram said.
The cyber insurance space has seen an increase in interest as cybercrime events have also increased. Iram added: “More and more businesses are understanding that they need to have this.”
