Phishing, Passwords & Prevention: Cybersecurity Insights
Cybersecurity has become one of the most pressing issues for insurance brokers today. With sensitive client data and financial transactions at stake, brokerages are a prime target for cybercriminals. To shed light on the current risks and how BrokerCentral responds, we spoke with Lewis Hobden, our Technical Solutions Lead.
The Biggest Cybersecurity Risk: Phishing
Lewis explained that phishing remains the number one threat facing insurance brokers. Cybercriminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to impersonate clients, service providers, and even colleagues in order to gain access and extract money. Staff training-learning how to recognise, scrutinise, and report suspicious emails—is therefore critical.
How We Keep Client Data Safe
When asked how BrokerCentral protects client information, Lewis highlighted the importance of industry-leading practices. The platform is secure by design, hosted on infrastructure that has been battle-tested by companies like Nissan, Netflix, and Amazon. Security is built into the foundation of BrokerCentral, not treated as an afterthought.
The Simplest Step Every Employee Can Take
Cybersecurity isn’t always about complex systems. Lewis said, “Using unique, secure passwords for every login is one of the simplest but most effective steps. At BrokerCentral, we recommend 1Password-it can generate and store randomised passwords so users don’t fall back on reusing the same ones.” Evolving with emerging threats In recent years, supply chain attacks have become a major concern. These attacks insert malicious code through third-party software. BrokerCentral is now far more vigilant about the code it uses and delays non-critical updates to allow time for proper auditing.
Busting Cybersecurity Myths
Lewis also addressed a common misconception: many SMEs believe they are too small to be attacked. In reality, smaller businesses are often targeted precisely because criminals expect weaker defences. The UK has lost £44bn to cybercrime in the past five years, with over half of businesses reporting at least one attack.
A Personal Cybersecurity Surprise
On a lighter note, Lewis shared an unexpected real-world encounter with cybercrime. “While on holiday in the US, I peeled a credit card skimmer off a card reader. The cashier was horrified, thinking I’d broken her machine, but eventually realised I’d just prevented fraud!”
Staying Ahead of the Curve Cyber threats evolve constantly, but so do the defences. BrokerCentral monitors trusted sources like the National Cyber Security Centre and follows the latest best practices in access management, encryption, and data storage to protect client data with confidentiality, integrity, and availability at the core.
At BrokerCentral, cybersecurity isn’t just a feature - it’s part of our DNA.