CynergisTek Ready for Cyber Insurance Demands on Healthcare

Midwest health system turns to CynergisTek to implement additional controls to meet carrier’s new and more stringent requirements

CynergisTek (NYSE American: CTEK), a leading cybersecurity firm helping organizations in highly regulated industries navigate emerging security and privacy issues, announces a six-figure agreement for Privileged Access Management (PAM) services with an existing Midwest health system client to safeguard identities with special access or capabilities beyond regular users.

The increase in ransomware attacks has cyber insurance providers scrambling to cover their losses and the industry saw a rise in insurance premiums of 25 percent in the second quarter of 2021. In an effort to address the growing threats and costs associated, many cyber insurance providers are requiring clients to meet a certain level of best practice risk management strategies. If the client doesn’t comply the organization is at risk of increased premiums or may be deemed uninsured. One of the numerous requirements is for organizations to implement and run a PAM tool that will continuously scan access, provides Just In Time Access (JITA), and delivers protection when credentials are compromised. News of these cyber insurance requirements led CynergisTek to quickly partner with Remediant, Inc. to provide the tool while the CynergisTek team offers a service to efficiently implement and manage alerts.

“Our healthcare clients are in the eye of the perfect storm right now,” said Mac McMillan, CEO of CynergisTek, Inc. “Right as they are dealing with the impacts of one of the longest pandemics in history, the threat they face from cyber-attacks not only hasn’t abated, but has increased and become more difficult, and now the cyber insurance industry has figured out that these attacks are costly and they are raising the bar for organizations to get coverage.” Organizations all over the country have reported receiving notices of huge increases in premiums for cyber insurance and more stringent underwriting requirements that in some cases will require real investment.

Crowdstrike’s 2021 Threat Hunting Report reported a 60% increase in what they call interactive intrusion activity or more sophisticated human-enabled attacks. They also reported that there has been a sharp increase in the number of attacks not involving malware which hampers traditional security systems’ ability to detect them. All of this adds up to a much more volatile environment where other controls become critical to stopping the lateral movement of attackers once a breach occurs. “We have been talking about controls like PAM for a while now with our clients recognizing that eliminating access to credentials with elevated privilege significantly hampers the attacker’s effectiveness,” said Ben Denkers, Chief Innovation Officer at CynergisTek. “We are working closely with our clients to help them address this long list of requirements, and we expect that the mixture of our current service offering and new solutions reinforce our commitment to solving challenges like these and will drive revenue growth in the future.”

About CynergisTek, Inc.

CynergisTek (www.cynergistek.com), is a top-ranked cybersecurity consulting firm helping organizations in highly-regulated industries, including those in healthcare, government, and finance navigate emerging security and privacy issues. CynergisTek combines intelligence, expertise, and a distinct methodology to validate a company's security posture and ensure the team is rehearsed, prepared, and resilient against threats. Since 2004, CynergisTek has been dedicated to hiring and retaining experts who bring real-life experience and hold advanced certifications to support and educate the industry by contributing to relevant industry associations. For more information, visit www.cynergistek.com or follow us on Twitter or Linkedin.

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This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of CynergisTek, Inc.. These forward-looking statements are within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “would,” “could,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to uncertainties relating to product/services development; long and uncertain sales cycles; the ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; future capital requirements; competition from other providers; the ability of the Company’s vendors to continue supplying the Company with supplies and services at comparable terms and prices; the Company’s ability to successfully compete and introduce enhancements and new features that achieve market acceptance and that keep pace with technological developments; the Company’s ability to maintain its brand and reputation and retain or replace its significant customers; cybersecurity risks and risks of damage and interruptions of information technology systems; the Company’s ability to retain key members of management and successfully integrate new executives; the Company’s ability to complete acquisitions, strategic investments, entry into new lines of business, divestitures, mergers or other transactions on acceptable terms, or at all; potential risks and uncertainties relating to the existing and ultimate impact of COVID-19, including the geographic spread, the severity of the virus, the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak, actions that may be taken by governmental authorities to contain the COVID-19 outbreak or to treat its impact, and the potential negative impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and financial markets, and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are or will be described in greater detail in the Company’s Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. Given the risks and uncertainties, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement and should recognize that the statements are predictions of future results which may not occur as anticipated. Many of the risks listed above have been, and may further be, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, including its impact on the healthcare industry. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements and from historical results, due to the risks and uncertainties described herein, as well as others not now anticipated. CynergisTek is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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