Insurance Is Changing in NZ. Are You Ready for New Cyber Insurance Requirements?

If you have renewed your business insurance recently, or even started the renewal process, you may have noticed something changing.

Some insurers and brokers now ask about staff security awareness alongside firewalls, antivirus software and backups. Whether it is asked, and what evidence is expected, depends on the insurer, the policy and the underwriting process for your particular organisation.

Staff awareness and a clear way to report suspicious activity are useful parts of cyber risk management in their own right. Confirm the questions, policy terms and evidence required for your organisation with your insurer or broker — we cannot tell you what your policy requires, and neither can a generic checklist.

Keep accurate records of the training you actually provide and how staff report concerns. Do not assume that buying a security product or completing a course guarantees cover, a claim payment or a lower premium.

Why Are Cyber Insurers Focusing on Staff Training?

A large share of incidents still begin with someone being convincingly deceived rather than with a technical failure.

A convincing phishing email, fake Microsoft 365 login page, or spoofed email from a company director can be enough to compromise an organisation. From an insurer's perspective, untrained staff create higher cyber risk and increase the likelihood of costly claims.

In New Zealand, this also connects closely with the Privacy Act 2020, which requires organisations to take reasonable steps to protect personal and customer information. Security awareness training is increasingly viewed as part of those reasonable safeguards.

What insurers sometimes ask about

Requirements vary considerably between insurers and policies. Where questions about staff awareness do come up, they tend to cover things like:

  • Regular cyber security awareness training for all staff
  • Ongoing phishing simulations rather than one-off training sessions
  • Reporting and tracking of staff participation
  • Evidence that employee security behaviour is improving over time
  • Processes in place to reduce phishing and credential theft risk

For many businesses, managing this internally can feel like yet another system to oversee. That is where Anvil Solutions and uSecure can help.

Automated Security Awareness Training With uSecure

Through our partnership with uSecure, we help businesses implement practical and low-maintenance cyber security awareness programmes that align with modern insurer expectations. This includes:

  • Automated, bite-sized security awareness training
  • Real-world phishing simulations in a simple “set and forget” format
  • Clear reporting that can be shared with insurers
  • Minimal administration for your internal team
  • Monitoring for compromised accounts and leaked credentials in known data breaches

Most importantly, this turns insurance requirements into genuine cyber risk reduction rather than simply ticking compliance boxes.

See Where Your Business Is Exposed

One of the biggest eye-openers for organisations is understanding where cyber risk already exists within their team. That is why we are happy to run a no-pressure security awareness exercise with your staff. This can safely demonstrate:

  • How convincing modern phishing attacks really are
  • Where staff may unknowingly be exposed to cyber threats
  • Which areas would benefit most from further training
  • How businesses can improve their overall cyber security culture

There is no blame and no finger-pointing. The goal is visibility, education, and improvement.

Free uSecure Trial Available

There is also a free trial available for the uSecure platform, allowing you to see exactly how the training, phishing simulations, and reporting work before making any commitment. Ask us for the uSecure product sheet and platform overview.

Get Ahead of Your Next Insurance Renewal

If your insurance renewal is approaching, or your insurer has already started asking difficult cyber security questions, now is the ideal time to prepare. Talk to Anvil Solutions about:

  • A free uSecure trial
  • Staff security awareness exercises
  • Ongoing phishing simulation campaigns
  • Cyber security awareness training for employees
  • Monitoring for leaked credentials and breached accounts
  • Improving alignment with cyber insurer expectations

We can help your business strengthen its cyber security posture while keeping the process simple and cost-effective. Call Ashley or email us to get the ball rolling.

Cheers, Anvil Solutions