A Unicorn in Cyber Insurance?

Let's face it, comprehensive cyber insurance tailored to the unique challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a rare thing of beauty. I know of a few companies trying to crack the nut on this and just had a chat with Cowbell which warrants this “Conversation”. Cowbell has an interesting approach to cyber risk management and insurance coverage.

One of the features that I find compelling is Cowbell’s emphasis on data-driven risk assessment. Right at the company’s inception, the Cowbell team started building out a risk pool – building the foundation for their patented risk rating factors, Cowbell FactorsTM. There are more than 38 million data points in the company's risk pool, which covers more than 90% of U.S. SMEs, and the company expanded to include UK data last year. Cowbell Factors aggregates and analyzes these data points and uses historic context to monitor how risk evolves against the threats facing each company. Once analyzed, every business is bench marked against its industry peers across 8 variables and assigned an aggregate rating. Understanding where a company’s cyber risk exposure lies in comparison to its industry enhances risk selection and insurance pricing. A lot of this data is pulled from the wild, using public data, but some they get from proprietary partners and even dark web scanners.

Next, they leverage advanced AI and ML algorithms to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of each SME’s cybersecurity posture. This assessment considers things like the SME’s network security, data protection measures, employee training, and existing vulnerabilities. By gaining insights into the specific risks faced by each business, Cowbell ensures that its insurance policies are tailored to address the most pressing cybersecurity concerns. This all takes place before an SME client engages with Cowbell, so the company has a full view of each potential customer before they request a policy. Any business can request access to their Cowbell Factors - not just policyholders -  which also makes this an attractive public service to anyone who wants to understand if they are better, worse, or similarly prepared to thwart cyberattacks within their sector, compared to their peers.

Cowbell customizes coverage options that can be adjusted based on changing threat landscapes and business needs. This can enable the often-overlooked SME community to protect their company against a wide range of cyber risks, including data breaches, ransomware attacks, business interruption, etc.

Cowbell then goes a step further by offering proactive risk mitigation and assessment services to its policyholders. Through its Cowbell Insights platform, SMEs and businesses of all sizes get access to real-time threat intelligence, a risk report on their business, actionable recommendations, and cybersecurity best practices.

Another interesting piece is Cowbell’s cybersecurity vendor marketplace, Cowbell RX, which offers policyholders preferred access and pricing to dozens of cybersecurity solutions, offered by reputable organizations that partner with Cowbell. This is especially crucial for an SME to strengthen defenses, mitigate potential cyber risks, and minimize the impact of costly cyber incidents.

By combining insurance coverage with risk mitigation tools, Cowbell enables SMEs to take a proactive stance against cyber threats while also managing their loss ratios and bottom line. Cowbell is gearing up this year for advancement with new products, and industries.

Cowbell is like other cyber insurers in working to simplify the claims process through its UI but goes a step further by offering cybersecurity experts who possess the expertise needed to assess the impact of cyber incidents accurately.

But hey, this is a conversation and I want to hear from you. Please chime in and let me know what you think of Cowbell (be constructive and follow the rules here). And, let me know if there are other companies doing something similar I should check out.

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