Through its membership in the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), ISRI is offering members a way to get the cyber target off their backs: NAM Cyber Cover. It brings a leading cyber insurance provider, Coalition, together with a nationally recognized broker, AHT Insurance, to identify, protect, and manage the unique exposures facing the industrial and manufacturing industries.

“The NAM Cyber Cover program is an insurance policy bundled with various cybersecurity risk management tools and applications that are available for ISRI members,” says Megan Griffanti, commercial insurance account manager & consultant at AHT Insurance. “Coalition, the carrier, is an insurance-tech firm. When they review an application, they go in and scan prospects, domains, and security in real time and then underwrite based on that information.”

ISRI became a member of NAM Cyber Cover in March 2022. When ISRI members join, the association receives a portion of their signup fee. ISRI members also get a program discount. The program includes:

  • A free cyber risk assessment that identifies weaknesses in your company’s IT network;
  • A patch manager that scans your systems 24/7 for out-of-date software and weaknesses. You receive immediate alerts when something unusual is found, and;
  • A threat monitor checking for new outside risks that notifies you before damage can be done.

ISRI members receive broadened coverage and limits; a threat-response team on standby to investigate and mitigate incidents; ransomware negotiation and recovery of lost or maliciously encrypted data; and educational tools for employees.

When cyberattacks became a problem a decade ago, threat actors wanted to get their hands on information and leverage it for financial gain. But these attacks have evolved over the years. At first glance, a recycling facility may not seem as high a risk for a cyberattack as a hospital or bank, but industrial spaces have more to worry about than information theft alone.

According to IBM’s 2021 cyber threat intelligence report, manufacturing was the second-most-attacked industry in 2020, behind financial services. Ransomware attacks made up 23% of disruptions, followed by data theft and server-access attacks. Sodinokibi aka REvil ransomware alone made hackers at least $123 million in profits in 2020 and let them steal around 21.6 terabytes of data.

“Industrials are at risk for operational technology,” says George Forrester, partner at AHT. “It’s the technology that plants and facilities use to run the equipment. Threat actors can cause a ransomware claim wherein the business not only loses information or customer data but the ransomware attack locks up your system so you can’t produce your product. In the industrial space being held up like that can have drastic consequences.”

For more than 25 years, AHT’s boutique manufacturing practice has been recognized as a leader in risk management and global machinery manufacturing. “We’ve tailored our platform to be very specific to the types of exposures facing this industry,” Forrester explains. “The service we provide does not replace your current broker. If your broker is like your primary care provider, we essentially act as a specialist that focuses on a specific need or problem.”

When doing a cyber risk assessment, AHT sets up a call with the insurance buyer and those in the company responsible for the organization’s technology. “Having conversations with the company’s IT and OT allows those people to learn how this can be a resource and what you have access to as a policy holder. You can use a risk mitigation tool on a propriety dashboard that gives them access to the risk assessments. The assessments are aggregating data from the dark web and updating so people can see the vulnerabilities in real time.”

For more information about cyber insurance, contact Forrester at george.forrester@ahtins.com or Griffanti at megan.griffanti@ahtins.com.

Photo Credit Courtesy of Shahadat Rahman on Unsplash.

 

Hannah Zuckerman

Hannah Zuckerman

Hannah is a Writer & Editor for ISRI's Scrap News. She's interested in a wide range of topics in the recycling industry and is always eager to learn more. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College, where she majored in History and a minored in Creative Writing. She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband.