Topic starter
25/08/2026 6:10 pm
TL;DR: Ransomware accounted for 58% of large cyber insurance claims in 2024, while breaches such as Change Healthcare and CDK Global drove insurers to raise premiums and demand proof of stronger identity controls, according to Veza. Identity programmes that cannot demonstrate visibility, least privilege, and NHI governance are now underwriting risks, not just security gaps.
Editorial analysis by NHI Mgmt Group, based on content published by Veza: “Ensuring Insurability: How to Strengthen Your Cyber Insurance Posture”.
By the numbers:
- Ransomware accounted for 58% of large cyber insurance claims in 2024.
Key questions
Q: What breaks when cyber insurance depends on NHI controls and visibility is missing?
A: When insurers expect proof of NHI governance, missing visibility breaks the organisation's ability to demonstrate bounded access.
Q: Why do service accounts and machine identities matter under NIS2?
A: Service accounts and machine identities matter because they often carry the permissions that move data, trigger reports, and feed AI workflows.
Q: How should security teams prove identity controls during cyber insurance renewal?
A: Focus on evidence, not policy statements.
Practitioner guidance
- Document NHI ownership and business purpose Assign every service account, token, certificate, and API credential to a named owner and a specific workload or process.
- Build an insurer-ready identity evidence pack Assemble screenshots, reports, and logs that prove MFA coverage, least privilege, NHI inventory, access review outcomes, and revocation processes.
- Reduce standing privilege in NHI estates Identify service accounts and machine credentials that hold broad or persistent access to critical systems, then narrow scope to the minimum operational set.
Bottom line: Cyber insurance is increasingly testing whether identity programmes can produce evidence of control, not just assert that controls exist.
Explore further
View Full Forum → | NHI Foundation Course → | Our Services → | Read the full analysis →
This topic was modified 3 hours ago by NHI Mgmt Group
25/08/2026 6:11 pm
Cyber insurance has become an identity governance test: insurers are no longer pricing only perimeter risk; they are pricing the organisation's ability to evidence controlled access. That moves identity from a technical domain into the underwriting conversation, where proof matters more than claims of maturity. For practitioners, the implication is that identity evidence must be structured, repeatable, and defensible.
A few things that frame the scale:
- Only 5.7% of organisations have full visibility into their service accounts, according to the Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
A question worth separating out:
Q: Should organisations prioritise NHI governance before renewing cyber insurance?
A: Yes, if the business depends on meaningful coverage terms. NHI governance affects whether the organisation can prove it understands who or what has access, how that access is constrained, and how quickly it can be removed. Without that evidence, premium pressure and coverage disputes become more likely.
👉 Read our full editorial: Cyber insurance is now an identity control problem for NHIs
This post was modified 3 hours ago by NHI Mgmt Group