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25/06/2026 12:08 am
TL;DR: Identity-related controls affect cyber insurance premiums or coverage terms for 97% of more than 750 security leaders, with PAM, IGA, and third-party access controls ranking as the top differentiators, according to Delinea survey findings. That makes identity maturity a coverage issue, not just a security control issue, and turns insurer scrutiny into a governance signal.
NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Delinea: Identity Security Controls Become Non-Negotiable for Coverage
By the numbers:
- 97% of respondents reported that identity-related controls influenced their premium or coverage terms in some way.
Questions worth separating out
Q: How should security teams prove identity maturity to cyber insurers?
A: They should show evidence, not assertions.
Q: Why do privileged access controls affect cyber insurance pricing so directly?
A: Because privileged access determines how much damage a compromised identity can do.
Q: What do organisations get wrong about vendor access in insurance assessments?
A: They often treat vendor access as a procurement issue instead of an identity risk.
Practitioner guidance
- Map insurance controls to identity evidence Build a renewal package that shows privileged access inventories, access review cadence, third-party offboarding evidence, and remediation logs.
- Reassess standing privilege before the next policy review Identify where admin accounts, service credentials, and emergency access remain persistent rather than task-scoped.
- Treat vendor access as a governed insurance exposure Tie vendor onboarding, access recertification, token expiry, and offboarding to named control owners.
What's in the full report
Delinea's full report covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:
- Survey breakdowns showing how U.S. and UK leaders differ in identity insurance expectations
- The report's full ranking of insurer prioritisation across PAM, IGA, and third-party access controls
- Claim and premium trend data that helps benchmark how insurance costs are shifting year over year
- The AI-related coverage findings, including premium credits and exclusions tied to AI misuse
👉 Read Delinea's report on identity security controls and cyber insurance →
Cyber insurance is pricing identity maturity, but what should teams change?
Explore further
25/06/2026 8:57 am
Identity security is now an insurance control plane, not a back-office technical concern. The survey shows that insurers are using PAM, IGA, and third-party access governance as practical evidence of cyber maturity. That means the market is no longer rewarding abstract control statements. It is rewarding proof that privileged and delegated access is discoverable, reviewable, and constrained. Practitioners should treat insurance renewal as a test of identity governance evidence, not just pricing negotiation.
A few things that frame the scale:
- 91.6% of secrets remain valid five days after the targeted organisation is notified, showing a critical gap in remediation procedures, according to the Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
- Only 20% have formal processes for offboarding and revoking API keys, and even fewer have procedures for rotating them, according to the Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
A question worth separating out:
Q: Who is accountable when identity controls are missing during a claim review?
A: Accountability sits with the organisation that owns the control environment, not with the insurer. Cyber policies increasingly assume the insured party can demonstrate that required identity controls were in place. If evidence is missing, the issue becomes a governance failure spanning IAM, PAM, security operations, and risk management.
👉 Read our full editorial: Identity controls are now underwriting conditions for cyber insurance
