This is Assured. We are Assured. I am Assured.

Hello from the other side, said Adele (and now me).

I’m Eleanor, I love stories – both reading them and telling them – and after bringing the very long chapter that was my tenure as editorial director of Infosecurity Magazine to a close, I write to you with news of my new chapter. Of course, given that you’ve stumbled upon this article, you already know where I am, but indulge me while I delve deeper to explain why.

I’m a co-founder and content director at Assured, tasked with creating a content platform designed as a virtual space for CEOs, NEDs and senior execs. Assured is a cyber insurance broker. Before you hear the words cyber and insurance next to each other and roll your eyes, hear me out. Trust me, after writing about cybersecurity for sixteen years, I wouldn’t even touch the barge pole, let alone the thing the barge pole was touching, if it wasn’t something I truly believe in.

Allow me to speak candidly. Cyber insurance has been on a highly volatile rollercoaster. As we say in the cybersecurity industry, there’s no silver bullet, and cyber insurance is as far from a silver bullet as any product or service. That said, if done correctly, it truly is a game-changer.

Assured is the only insurance broker in the UK that exclusively deals with cyber. We understand that to serve customers properly, we must be experts, sit at the heart of the industry, and perhaps most importantly, be better than those who came before us.

Not better in terms of insurance policies. Let’s be real; those policies will be essentially the same. Better in the way we can advise our clients because we get it. Better in the way that security posture and risk, resilience and more secure businesses matter to us. We don’t sell cyber insurance as a cure or an alternative to security, but instead, as a final backstop of protection if an organisation falls victim to an attack despite putting the proper preventative measures in place. We will only place policies that will actually deliver.

Good cyber insurers now demand a demonstration of good security practices to grant coverage. The new chapter of cyber insurance works as a catalyst to improve security, working hand in hand with end users and the vendor community to bring that baseline up.

Risk and cybersecurity are undoubtedly board room issues. Yet, with to-do lists longer than a Tolstoy novel, CEOs and other senior execs often don’t have the headspace to trundle through technical reports and policies doused with acronyms and terminology they don’t understand.

Assured is about so much more than insurance. It’s about empowering execs with confidence to discuss risk and cyber in the board room and the assurance that they are taking the steps needed to secure and protect their business. Our content will be tailored specifically for CEOs, NEDs and senior execs, to give them the knowledge they need to do their job to the best of their ability.

Did I ever imagine myself landing in a start-up? No. Did I ever think I’d work at a cyber insurance broker? Honestly, no. But the commitment by Assured to empower execs, get that buy-in, enhance businesses’ cybersecurity posture and truly make a difference is compelling. More than compelling, it is a mission I was so enchanted by that once I knew about it, I couldn’t not be a part of it.

High-quality content is a significant component of the Assured strategy, knowledge equals power, and it’s a dream to have the independence and the editorial integrity to create content with CEOs and execs at the very core, and the very heart.

“Here’s to giving CEOs and execs the knowledge and confidence they need to excel in the board room”

The phrase ‘bridging the gap’ is undeniably an eye-roll-worthy cliché. That said, it’s a genuine challenge: bridging the gap between the business and cybersecurity risk; bridging the gap between the CEO and the CISO; bridging the gap between cyber insurance and execs; bridging the gap between tech talk and real talk. The bridges can be built with knowledge, and that’s where I come in; that’s where our content will have you covered.

So that’s the synopsis for this story so far.

I did fifteen, almost sixteen orbits around the sun as the editor of Infosecurity Magazine. Whenever I had the opportunity to tell someone’s story, I would, and that’s not going to change.

So, hello from the other side…you have no idea how happy I am that you found me here. Here’s to giving CEOs and execs the knowledge and confidence they need to excel in the board room. Here’s to Assured being the catalyst for a more secure business landscape. And finally, here’s to you, for being part of our community. In the immortal words of Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship…”