Cybersecurity firm Sophos Group plc today announced a partnership with cybersecurity insurance provider Cowbell Cyber Inc. to provide businesses with an easier way to access cyber insurance.

The partnership will allow Sophos customers to directly share their security health information with Cowbell to facilitate optimal premium quotes and policies and gain access to Cowbell insurance through the Sophos Marketplace. Cowbell customers will also be able to explore Sophos Managed Detection and Response via the Cowbell Marketplace, providing easy access to a service that currently protects more than 15,000 organizations.

The partnership comes after research from Sophos indicated that cyber insurance is a crucial factor in shoring up security. The study found that 64% of U.S. organizations reported implementing new technologies or services to improve their insurance position last year and 57% increased staff training.

However, as attacks continue to increase in complexity, 95% of U.S. small and midsized organizations cited in the research found that their experience securing cyber insurance coverage changed over the last year. A little over half reported needing a higher level of cybersecurity to qualify for coverage, 44% said policies are now more complex, and 37% have found that fewer insurance providers are offering them coverage.

“Specifically with this partnership, Sophos endpoint customers will be able to ‘opt in’ to share with Cowbell their endpoint security health status from the Sophos Central platform, using a new data connector,” said Raja Patel, senior vice president of products at Sophos. “This easy-to-enable connection will streamline Cowbell’s risk assessment process, allowing assessors to efficiently evaluate Sophos customers’ defenses against the requirements needed for insurance policies.”

Patel added that although the best cyber defense is to have proper protection, detection and response security in place, some organizations still need guidance on best practices. The partnership will “enable Sophos and Cowbell to provide real-time feedback to our customers about how to improve their practices and risk profile if needed.”

Cowbell is one of the better-known startups that provide cybersecurity insurance. The company was in the news this time last year when it raised $100 million in funding from Anthemis Group Ltd., Permira Holdings Ltd., PruVen Capital LLC, NYCA Partners LLC and Viola Fintech Management Ltd. More recently, Cowbell launched a 24/7 incident response service that offers policyholders comprehensive support for risk improvement and incident response.

Image: Sophos