In an effort to thwart the increasing amount of cyber-relatedcrime, the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies is encouragingorganizations to ramp up network security by offering a premiumdiscount for its CyberSecurity by Chubb insurance product. Thepremium credit will be available to organizations that implementand regularly test their systems via the new best-practicepenetration testing methods as defined by the National Institute ofStandards and Technology (NIST).

"An organization's information is one of its most valuableassets," says Tracey Vispoli, Chubb's global financial fidelitymanager. "From customer notification to lost sales to stock-priceplummets, the costs of a data compromise can be staggering."

Data breach disclosure laws now in place in more than 30 statesare further driving up the costs of a security breach, according toChubb. "With cyber-security incidents doubling every year since1995, regulators, shareholders, and customers expect organizationsto protect their information and secure systems against attacks orcompromise," says Vispoli. "The NIST standards incorporatestate-of-the-practice security controls for information systems anda process to assess the effectiveness of those controls. Regular,ongoing testing is a critical component of any effective securityprogram, and we believe organizations that effectively implementbest-practice testing can reduce their risk of a securitybreach."

The testing evaluates a network's ability to protect anorganization's information from unauthorized access and enhances anunderstanding of security. As a result, organizations thatregularly test their systems can help prevent unauthorized accessto valuable information such as customer data. Chubb's premiumdiscount is available to CyberSecurity by Chubb customers thatadopt the new best-practice testing procedures outlined in AppendixG of the soon-to-be-released NIST Special Publication 800-53A,"Guide for Assessing the Security Controls for Federal InformationSystems." The NIST standards are the same ones that are used by thefederal government and its support contractors to promote security.CyberSecurity by Chubb helps protect organizations from theemerging risks associated with e-business by providing insurancefor direct loss, legal liability, and consequential loss throughsix insurance coverages.

Organizations can qualify for Chubb's premium credit by usingCORE IMPACT software from Core Security Technologies.