CynergisTek announces a six-figure deal for Privileged Access Management (PAM) services with an existing Midwest health system customer to secure identities with special access or capabilities beyond regular users.
An increase in ransomware attacks has cyber insurance providers scrambling to cover their losses, and the industry saw a 25% increase in premiums in the second quarter of 2021. In an effort to deal with the growing threats and associated costs, many cyber insurance providers are requiring their clients to meet a certain level of best practice risk management strategies. If the customer does not comply, the organization risks increased premiums or may be considered uninsured.
One of the many requirements is for organizations to implement and run a PAM tool that will continuously scan access, provide Just In Time Access (JITA) and provide protection when credentials are compromised. News of these cyber insurance requirements led CynergisTek to quickly partner with Remediant, Inc. for providing the tool, while the CynergisTek team offers a service for effective notification implementation and management.
“Our healthcare customers are in the eye of the perfect storm right now,” said Mac McMillan, CEO of CynergisTek, Inc. “Just as they deal with the effects of one of the largest pandemics in history, the threat they face from cyber-attacks has not only not subsided, but has grown and become more difficult, and now the cyber-insurance industry has realized that these attacks are costly and raise the bar for organizations to obtain coverage.” Organizations across the country have reported receiving notices of huge increases in cyber security premiums and stricter underwriting requirements that in some cases require real investments.
Crowdstrike's 2021 Threat Hunting Report reported a 60% increase in what they call interactive hacking activity, or more sophisticated human-triggered attacks. They also reported that there has been a sharp increase in the number of attacks that do not involve malware that hinders the ability of traditional security systems to detect them. All of this adds up to a much more volatile environment where other controls become critical to stopping the lateral movement of attackers once a breach occurs.
“We've been talking about controls like PAM for a long time with our customers recognizing that eliminating access to elevated credentials significantly hinders an attacker's effectiveness,” said Ben Denkers, Chief Innovation Officer at CynergisTek. “We are working closely with our customers to help them address this long list of requirements, and we expect that the combination of our current service offering and new solutions will strengthen our commitment to solving challenges like these and drive revenue growth in the future”.
