Insurance companies are the experts at analyzing and managing risk. They identify, quantify, and set pricing based on the calculated costs of risk. Naturally, the higher the perceived risk, the higher the cost to mitigate the potential losses.
Yet, here is the irony. While those in the insurance industry excel at evaluating risk management for their clients, they often neglect risk mitigation within their own operation.
Exposed Data is a Serious Risk
The insurance industry collects and analyzes overwhelming amounts of data. This often sensitive and confidential information becomes the basis upon which many critical decisions are made, and which produces the competitive advantage to provide better policies, prices, and solutions to the market.
All of this data, both historical and cutting-edge, is truly the lifeblood of the insurance industry. Therefore, the astute management and protection of this data is the infrastructure of arteries and veins delivering this lifeblood to all of the appendages of the company that need the results of this data compilation.
In addition, this sensitive and private information is disseminated to various internal and external associates, customers, partners and collaborators usually via the Internet, which exposes this data to compromise.
The Questions Not Asked
Despite their expertise in risk analysis, many in the insurance industry fail to ask these questions:
- Given how much data we're exchanging with clients, partners, financial institutions, healthcare organizations, etc., what is our risk of a data breach?
- What is our liability if we suffer a data breach?
- What can be done to mitigate potential losses?
When examined this way, any underwriter would agree that failure to adequately protect the sensitive data continually in transit in an insurance company's daily workflow presents an extremely high risk.
Related Reading: How GoAnywhere MFT Ensures Secure File Transfers for the Insurance Industry
Insurance Industry, Heal Thyself
If data really is the lifeblood of the insurance business, and the data center is at the heart of the company, then the arteries and veins are the methods of moving that data to and from your departments, clients, business partners, and others.
While adding layers of physical security to the data center is a top priority for insurance IT professionals, securing the pathways in and out of that data center tends to be overlooked, despite media coverage of data breaches at companies worldwide.
This lack of action underestimates the extent of the public's concern that their private data may be compromised, and state and federal efforts to more strictly regulate data storage and transfer policies.
Managing FTP Transactions
Effectively managing FTP transactions is essential to mitigating the risks of data loss. The costs of implementing managed file transfer solutions are minimal and provide tremendous flexibility when striving to meet the requirements of trading partners and compliance regulations.
As the insurance industry knows better than anyone, the best approach is to mitigate risk with a cost-efficient solution. In this case, taking direct action to protect data transfers is the obvious prescription for any organization -- especially one based on risk management.
How GoAnywhere Helps the Insurance Industry Avoid Data Breaches
GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer (MFT) simplifies and streamlines the exchange of authorized data between insurance companies and their trading partners.
GoAnywhere MFT helps insurance companies avoid data breaches by helping them meet the critical compliance requirements they’re accountable for, securing the integrity of their private data, eliminating manual processes, and more.
It safeguards data at rest and in transit, while meeting the requirements for information integrity required by the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA), Sarbanes-Oxley 404 and 409 (SOX), and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Related Reading: MLC Life Insurance Protects Its Customers, in Both Their Industry and with GoAnywhere’s MFT Solution
The Best Insurer for Insurance Companies? GoAnywhere MFT
With a managed file transfer solution like GoAnywhere MFT in place, insurance organizations can remain confident that their critical file transfers are automated, secure, and comply with key regulations.
The versatility of GoAnywhere and its many features has continually ensured a great return on investment for every insurance company that has utilized it.
