Why Insurers Keep Raising the Bar
Cyber‑insurance premiums more than doubled in key markets as ransomware surged, and businesses grew more reliant on digital infrastructure during the shift to remote work. In the U.S., Marsh recorded a 130% increase in cyber‑rate between Q4 2020 and Q4 2021 (Marsh Global Insurance Market Index Q4 2021).
In response, underwriters have raised their expectations. Many now require immutable, off-site backups and regular testing. Veeam’s guidance on immutable backup solutions notes many cyber‑insurance policies explicitly require immutability and proof of restore testing (Veeam Blog: “Immutable Backup Solutions“).
Typical Application Questions (Real Examples)
Real cyber-insurance application: underwriters want evidence you test restores—not just store backups.
- Are disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place and tested annually? (Chubb)
- Do you have a backup solution with immutable backups? (Corvus)
- How long do you expect it to take to recover from backups in the event of a widespread malware or ransomware attack within your network? (Tokio Marine HCC)
- How many hours does it take the applicant to fully restore their systems? (USLI)
- Is full recovery from a backup tested at least annually? (Axis)
Key Takeaway
The more often you can prove a clean, full-system restore, and the faster that restore completes, the stronger your negotiating position at renewal.
Proof That Testing Pays Off
- Organizations with a practiced incident‑response plan (including tested restores) cut breach costs by 58 % on average (IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2024).
- In Veeam’s Data Protection Trends 2024 survey, enterprise respondents who did perform large-scale recovery tests still only met their recovery objectives 58% of the time – meaning 42% of recovery attempts missed SLA targets (Veeam Data Protection Trends 2024)
- Marsh lists “secured, encrypted, and tested backups” as a top control that lowers incident severity and is required for favorable cyber-insurance terms (Marsh – 12 Key Cyber Controls PDF).
How Cloud IBR Automates the Evidence Insurers Want
| Insurer / Auditor Concern | Cloud IBR Answer |
|---|---|
| Full-system restore proof | One-click recovery tests spin up VMs on Bare-Metal Cloud and produce signed PDF reports with timestamps & pass/fail status. |
| Testing frequency | Schedule tests monthly, quarterly, or ahead of renewals—zero weekend engineering marathons. |
| RTO evidence | Reports log boot times and data-integrity checks so you can quote audited RTOs. |
| Immutable, malware-free backups | Works with Veeam backups in Wasabi, Backblaze B2, Cloudian, Veeam Vault or Cloud Connect; objects are scanned during restore. |
| Compliance artifacts | Exports PDFs + syslog that slot directly into ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI, and NYDFS audit packs. |
What About Compliance?
Reducing cyber-insurance premiums is a compelling incentive, but regulatory compliance is just as critical. Many industries require more than documentation. They mandate tested, restorable backups, clearly defined recovery protocols, and proof that those systems work, before a disruption occurs.
For example, under Section 500.16 of the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Cybersecurity Regulation, covered entities must have:
- A full Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) plan
- Regular, off-site backups of critical systems and data
- Documented recovery procedures
- Disaster recovery testing conducted at least once per year
- Proof that systems can be restored from those backups
- Protections against unauthorized alteration of backup data
Failure to meet these requirements can result in regulatory penalties, legal exposure, and operational risk.
Learn more about NYDFS Business Continuity and DR Requirements
How Cloud IBR Helps Meet Compliance Standards
| Standard / Regulation | Testing Requirement | Cloud IBR Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 27001 §8.13 | Backups must be secure and regularly tested. | Scheduled failover tests + reports satisfy auditors. |
| NIST 800-53 CP-4 / CP-10 | Requires contingency-plan testing & full re-constitution. | One-click failover meets the control. |
| SOC 2 (Availability TSC) | DR plan must be tested at least annually. | Automated annual (or more frequent) tests with artefact storage. |
| HIPAA §164.308(a)(7)(ii)(D) | Must implement periodic testing of contingency plans. | Generates proof for OCR reviewers. |
| PCI DSS v4.0 Req 11 | Mandates at least annual DR/BCP testing. | Timestamped logs drop into ROC evidence. |
| NY DFS 500.16 (2024) | Requires annual tests of the entity’s ability to restore from backups. | One-click tests + signed reports meet evidence expectations. |
See It In Action
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