How Organizations Can Leverage Cyber Insurance Effectively

**Executive summary:** In 2024 the article argues cyber insurance is an essential part of managing rising cyberattack costs, noting that while most large enterprises carry cyber policies, only about 10% of SMEs do; insurers are likely to demand stronger controls, driving higher premiums and exclusions for underprepared organizations. The piece recommends a pragmatic, phased approach for SMEs to improve security—prioritizing human-risk mitigations like phishing-resistant MFA, regular patching, vulnerability assessments and pen testing, incident response planning, and partnering with insurers that provide proactive risk management—to reduce risk and improve insurability.