Perkins: Spektrum Labs aiming to create de facto “data fabric” for cyber ecosystem

By James Thaler

Feb 19 - (The Insurer) - Spektrum Labs is aiming to create a platform that brings consistency and validation to cyber data, according to its head of insurance Max Perkins.

Perkins spoke to The Insurer TV at last week's NetDiligence Cyber Risk Summit in Miami Beach.

Spektrum was launched in 2021 by JJ Thompson and Rob Driscoll, who previously founded cyber firms Rook Security and Tracepoint, respectively.

The company sees itself as playing a key role in establishing a cyber resilience ecosystem that benefits a wide range of stakeholders, including brokers, underwriters, and end business users.

Perkins said that a major problem that currently exists is the inconsistency of data that flows through the underwriting and claims processes, in particular.

“We're relying on each other's validation of our controls at all times, contracts, governance, risk compliance within your own organisation,” he noted, saying data uncertainty has contributed to capital inefficiency within the cyber ecosystem.

GIVING UNDERWRITERS MORE INFORMATION

The goal, Perkins said, is to provide insurance underwriters with as much information as possible “in a programmatic way” that makes underwriters’ work more efficient.

The Spektrum platform will provide underwriters an output that informs them whether a risk is within appetite, segmented by things like industry class and revenue size, while providing high-level indicators regarding the insured’s current cybersecurity posture.

“They want to know that controls are validated, that they'll be able to see that in a safe way, because we're not handing over all of the endpoint data to the insurers,” Perkins explained.

The executive said that the name Spektrum came about in part because the firm aims to help a broad range of stakeholders, ranging from end user businesses, to brokers, insurers, as well as cybersecurity providers.

Spektrum currently has 11 employees on staff along with an intern, with two “mature products” currently in market: one centered on incident data collection and another geared towards law firms called Case Management.

It is also working on a tool for insurers to show things like whether an insured has an e-mail security tool in place or is using a managed detection and response service.

Spektrum is now looking to go to market with that tool in particular, as the firm is confident it has produced a minimum viable product.

“This is a really important week for us leading up to February 14, where we'll have some submissions for the RSA Conference, and others, where we want to be front-and-centre in the security community, showing folks what we can do that's different from our insurance world here.

Spektrum’s initial focus is to distribute its services through brokers, law firms, private equity houses, and end insureds.