Guidewire Announces New RDP Exposure Signal to Assess Growing Cyber Threats

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently, today announced a new Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Exposure Signal, for its Guidewire Cyence for Cyber product. Cyberattacks against Internet-exposed RDP servers are surging, and Exposure Signal is designed to detect on-demand whether a company’s RDP has been exposed to the internet and a potential cyberattack.

The new capability provides actionable insights that enable underwriters to develop a more comprehensive assessment of enterprise susceptibility to attack, leading to the ability to price risk appropriately and avoid adverse risk selection. In addition, Exposure Signal empowers insurers to inform their customers of a potential cyberattack so that they can take action to reduce their risk exposure by taking preventative or remediation measures.

RDP is a remote desktop solution that comes pre-installed on all Windows PCs, and is a key component of enabling remote work, which has increased dramatically since the outbreak of COVID-19. According to analysis by cybersecurity researchers at McAfee, there has been a spike in RDP ports facing the open Internet, growing from around three million in January to more than four and a half million in March.

“The RDP Exposure Signal’s insights can be very useful in driving underwriting decisions. In addition, actionable steps can be taken to reduce risk. It’s a win-win,” said Roger Arnemann, general manager and senior vice president, Analytics, Guidewire Software. “Insurers can quote the prospective customer, contingent on the finding being fixed, which gives the insured the incentive to act because it improves their cybersecurity posture and they get a better rate.”

As a leading platform provider for the P&C insurance industry that specializes in helping customers assess cyber risk, Guidewire is uniquely positioned to quickly add new exposure signals that are correlated to cyber risk. “Guidewire Cyence for Cyber (via the new Exposure Signal addition), can detect whether a company’s RDP has been exposed to the public internet, leaving those companies open to cyberattack,” said Paul Mang, chief innovation officer, Guidewire Software. “Exposure Signal is a very innovative and forward-thinking addition to our cyber data model that will benefit insurers and their customers.”