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FICO aims to offer enterprise cybersecurity ratings that rhyme with credit scores

Via the acquisition of QuadMetrics, FICO will be rating enterprises and their cybersecurity risks. Insurers are likely to be interested.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor
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FICO, best known for credit scores, acquired analytics firm QuadMetrics and plans to offer "enterprise security scores."

The scores via QuadMetrics will rate companies based on their cybersecurity risk. Aside from giving boards of directors a metric to gauge security, FICO's cybersecurity risk scores will be used by insurers offering data breach coverage and companies to assess vendors.

Terms of the QuadMetrics deal weren't disclosed.

In many ways, FICO's Enterprise Security Scores rhyme with credit scores. Insurers will need to make bets on their risks to offer coverage to an enterprise.

QuadMetrics, based in Ann Arbor, MI, uses predictive analytics and signals from various sources to deliver a security score. The average cost of a data breach is now about $4 million, according to Ponemon Institute.

The technology used by QuadMetrics was developed at the University of Michigan and funded by the Department of Homeland Security and National Science Foundation.

FICO said that its Enterprise Security Score will complement its existing Falcon Cybersecurity Analytics service.

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