The rising importance of cyber insurance
Cyber insurance premiums have grown 300% since 2020. Insurers are demanding increasingly rigorous evidence of security practices and incident timelines. Without verifiable proof of when events occurred, claims can be delayed or denied. Timestamped evidence provides the irrefutable timeline insurers need.
What insurers want to see
After a cyber incident, insurers want to know: when was the breach detected? When were countermeasures activated? When were affected parties notified? When were systems restored? Each of these timestamps must be independently verifiable. Self-reported times based on internal server clocks are insufficient — they can be manipulated.
Timestamping security logs
By routing security logs through a qualified timestamping service, organisations create an independent, tamper-evident record of their incident response. Each log entry receives a qualified timestamp proving it existed at the claimed time. This creates an immutable timeline that satisfies even the most demanding insurers.
Reducing premiums
Some insurers now offer premium reductions for organisations that can demonstrate qualified timestamping of their security event logs. This recognises that timestamped evidence reduces dispute costs and accelerates claims processing, benefiting both insurer and insured.