An experienced cyber insurance broker’s reply to my blog
This reply to my blog, Should I buy cyber insurance? is written by David McNeil, principal, of EPIC Insurance Brokers & Agents. He brings 20+ years of professional industry experience to the topic on cyber insurance. Some of Alvaka Networks' clients have been utilizing Dave's services for many years.
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Hi Oli,
Always enjoy your insights and thoughts on Tech-related subjects. Lately, the plethora of headlines regarding cyber-related issues has meant the interest in cyber-insurance has reached a new level. This is a huge topic and this comment can only scratch the surface.
That said, a bit of an insider-view may be helpful…
Currently, cyber-insurance coverage forms are NOT standard (ISO) forms. As a result, insurance carriers forms differ greatly. Many parts, definitions, limits and coverage triggers are negotiable.
Definition negotiations are critical. It is important to know what to look for and how to modify a particular carriers form to best suit the needs of a specific client/insured.
EXAMPLE: Trigger for Notification of a Breach - (A hypothetical…. Sort of)....
Smoke testing is a term used to describe the testing process for servers after patches are applied. 
Estimating an average time for patching servers and PCs can be a bit tricky. It can vary from one month to the next, depending upon the number and complexity of the patches released by your software vendors. You must consider all versions of operating systems and have a complete inventory of all your application software to do this job correctly. Our experience has shown that manual patching of systems takes on average of about 1.5 hours each.
This is a basic cost calculator for you to compute your typical monthly cost for patching your servers, PCs, laptops, tablets and associated application software. It also forms the basis for you to begin calculating your Return on Investment for software patching, or for comparison with alternatives to the manual process of patching operating systems and application software—such as Patch Management as a Service, also known as Vulnerability Management as a Service.