Three key SOC 2 requirements your insurance suppliers must demonstrate
As businesses move into an increasingly digital environment, information security and privacy have become even more challenging for Australian insurers. Amidst rising cybersecurity threats, insurers must securely manage vast volumes and types of data to protect the interests of the company and its customers. This relies on engaging with suppliers that maintain a similar level of cybersecurity.
Assessing security measures is one of the most critical aspects of due diligence when it comes to choosing a service provider, so suppliers must demonstrate that their security processes and protocols align with the insurers they support.
For insurers, there are some basic security considerations to make when engaging with a supplier. This includes ensuring they adhere to and regularly audit industry-standard security and policy controls such as: the General Insurance Code of Practice; Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) information security and business continuity policies; and Australian Privacy Principles (APP).
Insurance suppliers are increasingly looking to improve their data security measures beyond these requirements by implementing more system and organisational controls (SOC) to better demonstrate SOC 2 Type II operational effectiveness.
To mitigate cybersecurity risks and maintain a robust security posture, insurers should seek three key SOC 2 requirements from their insurance supplier:
1. Management support: cybersecurity is no longer solely the concern of a company’s IT team. It’s essential to engage with suppliers that take an holistic approach to how systems and data are protected, and this includes having management buy-in. Security must be a fundamental part of the culture that management creates within their organisation.
2. Clear processes and procedures: insurance suppliers must have clearly defined security processes and procedures in place that apply to the daily activities of all team members. Look for suppliers that have formal IT and information security policies and procedures in place for access management, data communication, change management, incident management, risk management, and system monitoring.
3. Experienced teams: suppliers must have the right level of expertise on their security teams to best protect insurance company and customer data. It’s essential that your suppliers employ skilled IT professionals who understand your organisation and the insurance industry’s threat landscape. Suppliers should formalise the roles and responsibilities of team members with written job descriptions so each worker understands their role in keeping insurance-related data secure.
While these elements are critical for data management and risk mitigation, suppliers should also have an appropriate physical and network infrastructure in place, and demonstrate effective threat prevention and incident management. For more information on how to identify an ideal supplier for your business, download our latest whitepaper and learn five SOC 2 requirements that Software-as-a-Service providers must demonstrate.
Information and system security is one of Stelvio’s core values, and an integral part of our business offering and company culture. To find out how Stelvio complies with SOC requirements, and how we can help streamline your insurance or repair business with secure SaaS solutions, contact the team today.