Hartford Business Journal

10 Hartford Business Journal • May 20, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com EXPERTS CORNER Proactive steps to protect your business from a cyberattack By Eric Buhrendorf C ountless companies unwittingly do risky things everyday that put their business in imminent danger of hack attacks. Installing an antivirus program is not a comprehensive IT solution. Pro- tecting your company's invaluable data and customer information needs to be a top priority, not an afterthought. While we can't completely prevent these types of attacks from occurring, there are proactive steps users and businesses can take to better protect their data and computers. Smarter businesses realize that every one of their computers, laptops and servers should have the essentials suite: antivi- rus, backup, patching and monitoring. There are thousands of computers across the world running automat- ed tools to com- promise the serv- ers and accounts of individuals and businesses. But hackers can also apply a human touch through social engineering. If an employee responds to a phishing email — an urgent request that seems to come from the CEO, or a file that ap- pears to be a sales report — the entire business can be compromised. For example, there has been explo- sive growth in business email compro- mise attacks. This is the most common attack that generally targets specific employees of a firm, usually in the finance department. Employees believe that they're dealing with an invoice from a vendor the company regularly does business with and agree to send large sums of money. This is typically via wire transfer to what appears to be a legiti- mate vendor account, but it's actually controlled by the attackers. Preparation is key to surviving. Ex- pecting to deal with a hack after it oc- curs is a fool's game and compromises the business and customer data. Ask yourself how much business will your company lose if you can't use your com- puters for a few days due to a virus? Preventing a data breach is even more crucial for small businesses. Ac- cording to a 2017 study by the Better Business Bureau, a data breach could render more than half of all small businesses insolvent within a month. A solid security plan to mitigate a data breach needs to include having trained internal and/or external resources like an IT team, consultant or vendor who will provide planning, implementation, management, testing/auditing, and compliance for the following: Comprehensive employee tech FOCUS: Technology By Joe Cooper jcooper@hartfordbusiness.com C ovr Financial Technologies may be new to Hart- ford, but its chief executive has long been a fixture of downtown's growing insurance-tech- nology ecosystem. In January, the digital life insurance software developer, previously based in Idaho, launched its new corporate headquarters in downtown's iconic Boat Building at 1 American Row, where it houses about 15 employees. While new staffers during a recent eve- ning were still getting familiar with their fifth-floor space, CEO Mike Kalen found himself in familiar territory spearhead- ing Hartford's next insurtech hopeful. Kalen, a former president of U.S. individual life operations at The Hart- ford and former CEO of its Hartford Life Europe operations, was part of a five-member advisory board in 2017 that recruited London-based Startupboot- camp to develop and operate the Hartford InsurTech Hub accelerator in downtown's Stilts Building. That initiative has drawn more than 20 insurtech startups to Hartford focused on technologies that aim to help or reshape the health, property and casualty, and life insurance sectors. Each participated in a months-long ac- celerator to hone their technology and business strategy. Kalen, a West Hartford resident, is now looking to tap Hartford's grow- ing insurtech pool he helped push forward. "We needed to go to a place where there were new skills and traditional skills," says Kalen, who was appointed Covr's CEO in March 2018. "For us, Hartford was one of the top markets to do that." Kalen says Covr expanded in Hart- ford primarily because the region offers a larger, more skills-ready talent pool compared to Idaho, where the insurtech's founder and current chief innovation officer, Todd Ruplinger, hails from. Connecticut's workforce is also more affordable than other tech markets like New York City and Silicon Valley — where Covr also considered moving its corporate headquarters. Covr's software provides a central- ized portal for financial advisors to compare the benefits of certain life, long-term care and disability insur- ance plans and find the most affordable coverage for their customers. Its ap- plications are aimed at simplifying how people buy insurance by standardizing the way insurance products are quoted. Covr currently houses all of its tech- nology jobs in Boise, Idaho, but has plans to hire additional technologists in Hartford as the company's software gains new customers. "We definitely see utilizing this as a growth footprint for future jobs as the company expands," Kalen said of Covr's 2,800-square-foot Hartford office, which shares floor space with Nassau Re's newly minted insurtech incubator program. "In Boise, we generally had to train workers. In Hartford, we hire people that already have the skills." Kalen also sees major capital-raising opportunities for the seven-year-old company in Hartford. After all, financing for insurtechs in the U.S. soared from $126 million in 2010 to $4.4 billion in 2018, according to investment banking firm Financial Technology Partners. That number is projected to climb another 40 percent to $6.1 billion by year-end 2019. Covr has been a beneficiary of that Eric Buhrendorf Launching Pad With Hartford insurance vet at helm, insurtech Covr sees major hiring, fundraising opportunities downtown HBJ PHOTO | JOE COOPER Covr Financial Technologies CEO Mike Kalen is bullish about his insurtech's potential to raise funding following its expansion into downtown Hartford.

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