When calling for help isn’t a claim: A new era for small biz cyber support

An all-in-one cyber insurance and protection solution is available

Cyber insurance has long been perceived as a resource built for large enterprises – an expensive, complex safeguard far beyond the reach of small businesses and solo entrepreneurs. But as the digital threat landscape evolves, so too does the profile of those who need protection. At BOXX Insurance, that shift is the foundation of their strategy.

“It’s an old way of thinking,” explained Neal Jardine (pictured), chief cyber intelligence and claims officer at BOXX Insurance. “Cyber insurance is also geared towards SMEs and data shows that SMEs are actually targeted more often by cyber criminals, so it’s critical they have a cyber policy and an active cyber partner.”

According to Jardine, what clients get when they buy cyber insurance with BOXX isn’t just a loss transfer mechanism, it’s an all-in-one cyber insurance and protection solution.

“We not only monitor our clients, we give them access to a virtual chief information security officer,” he added. “Clients can phone anytime and say, ‘Hey, I have this blip in my email,’ or ‘I’m looking at changing systems.’ We are a strategic cyber partner to our insureds that predicts and prevents cyber threats against them.”

This hands-on, integrated approach is designed with the real-world needs of smaller businesses in mind. Because BOXX doesn’t just write policies, they insure and defend against cyber threats.

“We’re scanning the dark web for identifiers that would indicate they’ve [been] compromised,” Jardine said. “We’re helping them train their employees and put internal policies in place about making payments online, handling data, and dealing with compliance.”

This combination of real-time and human support includes tools that would cost tens of thousands of dollars annually if purchased individually. But BOXX includes them as part of their core offering.

“There’s so many different features now beyond the insurance,” Jardine told IB. “The barrier for small businesses is thinking of us as insurance when they have a breach. We are more than insurance, we’re an all-in-one cyber insurance and protection solution.”

And when Jardine says they’re more than just a policy, he means it. Because when a client calls for advice, BOXX won’t bill it as a claim – their vCISO and 24/7 Hackbusters team acts as a proactive partner in cyber defense by providing advice or digging deeper into their system. This collaborative approach prevents over 80% of calls from turning into a claim – a win/win for all parties.

“The success of our Hackbusters model is reliant on early and proactive threat prevention through our proprietary tools and solutions, coupled with 24/7 expert support to manage cyber risks,” adds Jardine.

This constant communication and contextual guidance are also hallmarks of BOXX’s Cyberboxx® Assist platform, an embedded service offering that includes dark web monitoring, attack surface management (ASM), and real-time identity breach alerts. According to Jardine, it serves both commercial and personal customers and can also be integrated via affinity partnerships, such as telecom providers offering services to SMEs.

But technological empowerment isn’t the only area where BOXX is innovating, they’re also rethinking how they communicate, especially when it comes to buzzwords and emerging technologies within their policy wordings.

“We use very plain, very simple wording. Our policy says ‘privacy breach,’ ‘extortion events,’ and ‘electronic theft.’ Super easy and straightforward.”

Simplicity and accessibility are at the heart of BOXX’s offering, particularly as they scale into serving the gig economy and solo entrepreneurs. As Jardine told IB, they already have products designed for micro businesses and the gig worker economy, describing a recent case involving a fitness coach running a business via Instagram.

“They cracked into the client’s account, stole her password, threatened to delete her followers. She had paid advertising. That’s how she sold her products. That is a sole proprietor working in the digital world –  BOXX is equipped to help small and large businesses alike. ”

Their emphasis on practicality is also evident in how they manage supply chain risk, something many small businesses overlook.

“We know small businesses rely on other businesses to accomplish their goal. We allow them to add every single one of their vendors or suppliers into our attack surface management scanner,” Jardine added. “It will scan them and identify who in their supply chain is most likely to have a cyberattack.”

From there, clients can either build in redundancies or even engage their vendors directly – it’s an all-encompassing, top-to-bottom service model.