A holistic approach to Cybersecurity

In this Interview, the Managing Director of Perseus, Richard Renner, shares his insights on the future of the cybersecurity market and how Perseus is working to protect small-and-medium businesses from the big crimes. Currently, cybercrime is among the greatest threats worldwide, with more than 2/3 of all incidents involving human error, resulting in a need for better and brighter security systems.

Keep reading to learn more about Perseus, a next-gen company offering companies a holistic approach to cyber security that guides SMEs through all stages of cyber security: prevention, response and recovery.

What problem did Perseus set out to solve when it was founded? 

Businesses are ever-more reliant on the internet and connected devices and yet, over more than 75% of businesses in Germany are unprepared to deal with potential cyber-crime. 

Current solutions only focus on single cyber security pain points of SMEs and neglect the human aspect in protection. And this is the major risk: 2/3 of cyber incidents involve human error, as most cyber-attacks occur via email, e.g. phishing. 

This is where Perseus comes in to play. In order to have a clear and simple approach, even for customers with little digital know-how, we developed a cybersecurity-as-a-service solution: Perseus 360°. This approach is the only holistic cyber security offering that guides SMEs through all stages of cyber security: prevention, response and recovery. We want to reduce the risk for cyber-attacks by raising awareness of cybercrime. At the same time, we offer a technical solution with AI-based malware protection. The solution is specially designed for SMEs, and empowers companies and their employees to identify cyber threats. It even gives them a chance for an immediate response to an attack. 

Hence, it is not surprising that we were ranked as one of the most promising business models in terms of market potential and chances of success in the German insurtech industry, according to the newest Oliver Wyman Insuretech Radar.

What are the key changes you have seen in the industry since Perseus started? 

The introduction of the GDPR caused a paradigm shift in the valuation of cyber security. One of the first fines was the 50 Million Euro penalty against Google in France. It has shown companies that they have to ensure their IT security, no matter their size. The GDPR wasn’t just a political campaign, it’s a real thing. 

At the same time, the number of attacks and their severity – especially in the SME sector – has risen significantly. Additionally, the darknet has become a topic in the mainstream media, being described as a marketplace for criminals, drug dealers and data thieves – and they are right. 

The fact is, buying confidential data or the actual order of a cyber-attack is on the way to become as easy as booking a flight. This raises the exposure to risk, especially for German SMEs. Case Studies by the German Insurance Association show that 5 out of 6 companies already have a security breach. Entrepreneurs – and people in general – have to learn to protect their IT security and their own personal data. 

How is Perseus benefiting the modern-day insurance industry? 

Currently, cybercrime is among the greatest threats worldwide to any company. With our holistic model and collection of unique data, we help insurance partners to better gauge cyber risk – and reduce the risk for SMEs.

With employee awareness trainings, phishing tests and an AI-based endpoint protection, we want to drastically reduce cyber risk. Additionally, we have a 24/7 initial response service that helps businesses to act immediately after a security incident, limiting potential damages. Moreover, we have access to a range of experienced data recovery experts all over Germany, usually only available to enterprises. Our incident response team helps SMEs to get back to business and prevent business failures or GDPR penalty fees. 

To cover the basic costs for forensic investigations and legal advisory, Perseus offers Germany’s first commercial cyber insurance coverage, in cooperation with ELEMENT Insurance. For further protection, e.g. third party claims, we ensure our clients take out a Cyber Insurance policy with one of our insurance partners. 

We work with a numerous renowned insurance partners, e.g. Markel, HDI, SIGNAL IDUNA and Gothaer, which cover around 40% of all cyber policies. Our partners also co-sell Perseus to reduce customer risk and differentiate their own offering. 

How would you describe the evolution of the cyber security market within the insurance business? 

Cyber Insurances are in high demand these days. The risks for high penalty fees after a cyber-attack have risen significantly since the commencement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). While large companies are implementing steps to secure their IT departments, small and middle-sized enterprises don’t accept the fact that they are a target. 

The German cyber insurance market has so far doubled in size every two years, and this trend is believed to continue. 

How does Perseus plan to evolve in the future? 

Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and SMEs are vastly underserved in regards to tech solutions. Current solutions on the market are siloed and leave a massive opportunity for an integrated solution like Perseus. We are the only solution that guides SMEs through every phase of cyber security, all on one platform.

Therefore, we plan on continuing to educate the market on the need for insured-to- protected products which – according to the newest Oliver Wyman Insurtech Radar Germany issue – is one of the most promising business models out there. 

Today, we cover small companies in Germany with basic coverage of cybersecurity products. Our next step is to target medium sized enterprises and to push the internationalization of Perseus. To achieve this, we are currently looking for interested partners, especially in France, Italy and Spain. Besides that, we are working on integrating other 3rd party products and to complete our security and data compliance service. This task will actually never be finished.

We are always working on offering the best possible cybersecurity-as-a-service product, in order to fulfill our mission: keeping SMEs safe from cyber-crime.

You can connect with Perseus through their Linkedin page or on their website.