When a technology company has a bad day, its clients have one too. A failed release, a platform outage or a breach of client data turns your problem into claims from every customer you serve.
That is why cyber insurance for technology companies usually comes paired with technology errors and omissions cover. Underwriters review both sides together: your own security, and the harm your service could cause others. Here is what they look at.
Why insurers look closely at technology and SaaS
Tech firms hold client data, run client systems and sign contracts that promise uptime and quality. A managed service provider may hold admin access to dozens of client networks. A SaaS company may store millions of records for its customers.
Underwriters also read your contracts. Uncapped liability, liquidated damages and cost guarantees can leave you exposed, because many wordings exclude liability you take on by contract. Revenue from the United States or Canada matters too, since claims there can cost more and some wordings treat them differently.
For example, an IT support company with 30 staff that manages servers for 80 small businesses will face detailed questions about how its engineers reach client systems.
The cyber risks underwriters see in technology and SaaS
- Platform outages. Your SaaS goes down for a day, and clients claim for their lost business.
- Faulty releases. An update corrupts client data or breaks a key feature.
- Supply chain attacks. Criminals breach a managed service provider and use its remote tools to reach every client.
- Neglected vulnerabilities. An attacker exploits a known flaw that had a patch available for months.
- Client data breaches. Records stored in your platform leak.
- Intellectual property claims. A rival says your software copies its code or design.
What underwriters usually ask technology and SaaS businesses
- What products and services do you provide, and where does your revenue come from? Give a service list and a revenue split by country, including the US and Canada share.
- Do you release software only after full development and testing? A release process and test records answer this.
- Do your client contracts cap liability and avoid liquidated damages? Share your standard contract template.
- Do sub-contractors and outsourcers work under written agreements? Signed contracts are the evidence.
- How fast do you patch, and do you keep an inventory with end-of-life status? A patch report and asset inventory answer both. Some forms also ask whether you track vulnerabilities rated CVSS 8.0 or above.
- Is MFA on for every access path, and do your engineers have only the access they need? A configuration export and an access review cover it.
- What retroactive date do you need, and what cover did you hold before? Prior policy details help you keep continuous cover.
- Do you keep logs and records that could prove a loss? A logging configuration shows it.
Cover that matters most for technology and SaaS
- Technology errors and omissions. Claims for an act, error, omission or breach of contract in your service. This is often the biggest exposure for a tech firm.
- Privacy and network security liability. Claims after a breach of client or personal data, or after malware spreads from your systems.
- Business interruption. Lost income after the waiting period. Some wordings cover programming errors only when the software went through full testing first.
- Data and system recovery. Rebuilding data and repairing software after an event.
- Contractual incident response. Some wordings extend to response costs you agreed by contract to pay for a client.
- Intellectual property. Copyright and trade mark claims. Many wordings exclude patents.
Watch the sublimits. Some wordings set lower limits and coinsurance for ransomware, for exploits of unpatched or end-of-life software, and for widespread events that hit many companies at once. Acts before your retroactive date are usually excluded. Read cyber insurance underwriting for how these terms get set.
How PrismX helps technology and SaaS businesses get insurance ready
- Discover records your products, services, systems, data, sub-contractors and hosting providers.
- Assess checks each control, including release testing and contract caps, and shows how your answers read on the insurer's question set.
- Bring in your lists: larger providers can bring their supplier and system lists in from a CSV or XLSX file.
- Verify stores your release process, contract template and patch reports, gives each an AI check and advisor verification, and tracks expiry.
- Submission pack: PrismX builds a signed pack with a sha256 fingerprint.
- During an incident: in the pilot, PrismX tracks your wording's incident clocks, such as a 48-hour window to bring in an incident response firm.