About Plester Group

Having been established within the industry since 1964, Plester Group has a wealth of experience in providing tailored insurance cover for personal and commercial clients, ensuring lasting professional relationships and a growing customer base.

Based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, they have been providing insurance throughout the UK, for over 50 years. They currently employ 20 members of staff and have 25 computers using CyberGuard and OGL solutions and services.

Number of Employees: 20

Partnered with OGL since: 2016

Company Location: Worcestershire

Company Website: www.plestergroup.co.uk

Cyber security a necessity for Worcestershire-based insurance brokers

For a business that sells insurance, including cyber insurance, Plester Group needed extra confidence that their sensitive data was secure. They understood that a cyber-attack could be catastrophic and could extremely upset the trust within their customer base which they’ve built up over the years.

Plester Group’s Managing Director was happy to discuss how they went about implementing their cyber security strategy: “We’ve always taken cyber security seriously and previously used an independent third-party contractor who installed McAfee anti-virus. However, we wanted to invest in our IT and started to work with OGL just over three years ago. Since we started working with them, we noticed a huge difference and have always found them knowledgeable in dealing with any issues as well as giving us added comfort from the level of their off-site server security which is imperative for us. As we started offering cyber insurance, we were interested in taking our own cyber security to the next level. We had original discussions with CyberGuard Technologies (OGL’s Cyber Security division) about how we can improve our security and they recommended Carbon Black Defense, a next-generation anti-virus solution that was far superior to the traditional anti-virus products we had previously been using.”

Plester Group’s Managing Director continued: “We were advised that a next-generation anti-virus solution offers a deeper level of inspection which allows CyberGuard to spot smart and complex threats that would normally go undetected if we were using a traditional anti-virus product. So far, it’s worked great! We don’t really notice it’s there and it works away in the background, giving us the extra confidence that we can continue offering insurance to our customers, safe in the knowledge that their data is safe and secure.

“As general insurance brokers offering cyber insurance, we understand it’s naïve to think cyber-crime won’t affect us, or in-fact, any other modern-day business. We’ve witnessed the devastation it can cause and have sales aids we use which provide statistics and general reasons why cyber-crime needs to be taken seriously.

“The extra security CyberGuard provides us gives us added confidence in a world where cyber-crime is constantly increasing. The more dependent we are on technology, the more risk we expose to ourselves. However, without technology we wouldn’t be able to survive as a business.

“The IT support that OGL provides and our internet access is essential for us to be able to trade. We can’t transact any personal insurance without it, and we would also have limited ability to transact commercial insurance business too. The insurance software we use is a Citrix-based system, which also relies on our internet access, so we would not be able to see much of our client information without it. In simple terms, our business wouldn’t survive without access to the internet, and our IT support helps enable this.”

Plester Group’s Managing Director concluded: “Cyber security is imperative, not just for the financial sector, but for all industries. GDPR compliance, data security and general business protection means that cyber security isn’t just an option but a necessity. We are so happy that we have a partnership with CyberGuard and OGL which has given us greater confidence in our security and IT systems. We are looking forward to the future and are looking to further grow our business including by acquisition, so it is imperative that we have a secure, robust IT system in place and have people we can rely on to support us as we grow.”