When MGM Resorts suffered a $100 million hack in September, CEO Bill Hornbuckle wasn’t too worried about the lost revenue, because cyber insurance would cover the tab. “I can only imagine what next year’s bill will be,” he joked.

Weeks later, on a call with analysts, Hornbuckle complained about the “staggering” rise of insurance costs in the past few years.

This story neatly illustrates the crisis in cyber liability coverage. For years, companies have invested more in security insurance than in actual security. The result has been a tidal wave of data breaches that have driven up the cost of premiums to the point that they are rapidly becoming unaffordable.

Some large enterprises are responding to the increased costs by creating their own “captive carriers,” insurance providers that exist only to serve them. But that’s clearly not an option for small businesses, which are more likely to go without insurance altogether.

According to Andrew Bucci, VP of Sales at Amplified Insurance Partners, “It’s going to come to a point where some people may have to self-insure, which means that they don’t take a cyber policy out and they just cross their fingers they don’t have some sort of breach.” That’s a huge gamble for SMBs, since they could be driven to bankruptcy by a single security incident.

At Kolide, we’ve seen our cyber insurance premiums go up by 40% in just the last two years, and we got curious about:

• What’s driving the increases?
• Who really needs cybersecurity insurance?
• How can the average company reduce their premiums?

What we found was that insurance companies themselves can help get us out of this crisis, by mandating some (pretty basic) security requirements for their customers–things like MFA, endpoint security, and retiring end-of-life software. 

Read the full blog to learn more about our findings.

Our thanks to Kolide for sponsoring MacStories this week.

Textastic is the most comprehensive and versatile text and code editor for iPad and iPhone.

This begins with support for syntax highlighting of more than 80 programming and markup languages: Textastic covers a wide range, including HTML, JavaScript, CSS, C, C++, Swift, Objective-C, Rust, Go, Java, PHP, Python, Ruby, Perl, Lua, Markdown, LaTeX, YAML, JSON, and more. If your preferred language isn’t on the extensive list, you have the flexibility to add your own syntax definitions and themes, compatible with Sublime Text and TextMate.

With clients for SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, Dropbox, and Google Drive, however, Textastic goes well beyond the capabilities of a traditional text editor. The integrated SSH terminal further extends its functionality. With support for tabs, you can have multiple files and SSH terminals open simultaneously, even opening them in multiple windows side by side on iPad.

Whether crafting web pages, performing code reviews, or editing server configuration files, Textastic proves to be the ideal tool for your mobile workflow.

Customizable keyboard shortcuts, extensive configuration options, support for Git repositories using the Git client Working Copy, and powerful find and replace turn this app into the most powerful code editor you’ll find on iPad.

The long list of features also includes support for iCloud Drive, the Files app, drag and drop, trackpad and mouse, printing, Split View, multiwindowing, and a whole lot more.

In moments of uncertainty, the in-depth manual, with detailed descriptions and nearly 150 screenshots, is your comprehensive guide.

With the recent update to version 10, the user interface received a refreshing makeover, boasting new icons and a modern look across all areas of the app. Notably, Swift syntax highlighting has seen substantial improvements, and file uploads have been simplified.

Limited-Time Offer: Get Textastic at a 20% discount on the App Store ($7.99 instead of $9.99 in the US). This special pricing lasts only until January 28, 2024, giving you the perfect window to enhance your coding toolkit.

Our thanks to Textastic for sponsoring MacStories this week.