[Linux-Discussion] Interesting Hacker Insurance. Costs more for Windows servers..
- From: "@#@" <madmax@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: linux-discussion <linux-discussion@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 08:55:44 -0500 (EST)
Sorry about the length of this message...It makes interesting reading...
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Hacker Insurance
By Rick Johnson
The recent torrent of break-ins has companies looking for any way to
protect themselves, and we all saw this day coming. Hacker insurance has
finally hit the mainstream. The truly interesting part is that some
companies are actually charging more depending on your operating system.
J.S. Wurzler Underwriting Managers, one of the first companies to offer
hacker insurance, has begun charging its clients 5 percent to 15 percent
more if they use Microsoft's Windows NT software in their Internet
operations. Although several larger insurers said they wouldn't increase
their NT-related premiums, Wurzler's announcement indicates growing
frustration with the ongoing vulnerability discoveries in Microsoft's
products. A policy covering revenue lost due to hacking costs about $4,000
per year for each $1 million in coverage.
Some industry observers believe other insurers may follow Wurzler's lead,
which could affect the overall hacker insurance market ? a sector that the
Insurance Information Institute estimates may generate $2.5 billion in
annual premiums by 2005. "We saw that our NT-based clients were having
more downtime [due to hacking]," says John Wurzler, founder and CEO of the
Michigan-company that has been selling hacker insurance since 1998.
Wurzler said the decision to charge higher premiums was not mandated by
the syndicates affiliated with Lloyd's of London, who underwrites the
insurance he sells. Instead, the move was based on findings from 400
security assessments that his firm has done on small-and midsize-
businesses over the past three years. Wurzler found that system
administrators working on open source systems tend to be better trained
and stay with their employers longer than those at firms using Windows
software, where turnover can exceed 33 percent per year. That turnover
contributes to another problem: System administrators are not implementing
all the patches issued for Windows NT, Wurzler said.
Several insurers offer discounts to clients that use managed security
service providers or put certain security devices on their networks. For
example, last week, AIG said it would cut premiums up to 10 percent for
clients that use a new security device made by Invicta Networks, a
Virginia company headed by Victor Sheymov, a former KGB agent. Invicta
claims its device, which uses an Internet Protocol address-shifting
technology, is impossible to hack.
Insurance can be a great selling point to potential clients. Do you really
need it? Probably not. Ideally, you'll never need to cash in the policy,
but insurance is there to cover the "what if" scenario. Sure, you will get
a big fat check in the event that something bad happens, but the damage is
still done.
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