In the “old days,” simply enabling a few security controls was enough to satisfy underwriting requirements. But no longer. Insurers in 2026 now look much more closely at how identity and access controls function across an organization’s environment, and whether those controls genuinely reduce risk.
One signal in particular has become increasingly important: centralized authentication through Single Sign-On (SSO).
Insurers know that fragmented authentication systems create gaps that attackers can exploit. As a result, many underwriting reviews now focus on whether organizations have consolidated access through a centralized identity layer.
Here’s what insurers are looking for, where many organizations fall short, and why SSO has become a critical part of modern cyber risk management.
Why Insurers Care About Centralized Access
Cyber insurers no longer evaluate security tools in isolation. Instead, they look at how controls work together to reduce breach likelihood and operational risk.
From an underwriting perspective, centralized SSO signals several important things:
- Centralized access control
- Reduced credential sprawl
- Fewer misconfigurations
- Stronger auditability during a claim
Put simply, it shows that an organization knows who is accessing what—and whether that access can be governed consistently.
Fragmented authentication environments create uncertainty. And from an insurer’s perspective, uncertainty translates directly into risk. And risk raises premiums.
The “Insurance Silo” Problem: Technical Debt vs. Compliance
For many insurance providers and financial firms, achieving a unified SSO is a significant hurdle due to unique industry challenges:
- The M&A Ghost: Years of mergers and acquisitions often leave a “house of brands” with three or four different Identity Providers (IdPs) (e.g., Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, and Ping). Insurers penalize this “identity sprawl” because it creates inconsistent security policies.
- Legacy Policy Administration Systems (PAS): Core systems handling underwriting and claims are often decades-old or custom-built. These apps frequently lack support for modern SSO protocols like SAML or OIDC.
- The Agent & Broker Distribution Gap: Carriers must secure thousands of external independent agents. If an agent’s local portal credentials are compromised, the carrier is often held liable for the resulting data breach.
The “Legacy Gap” Problem and the Cost of Fragmented Security
The biggest red flag for insurers is the fragmented environment. Many organizations use SSO for modern SaaS apps but leave legacy or custom internal apps relying on local credentials.
The Risk: In 2024, organizations with fragmented security infrastructures faced an average data breach cost of $4.88 million.
If an attacker finds one non-SSO, legacy application, they can harvest credentials and move laterally through your network. As seen in the Travelers v. International Control Services (ICS) case, a single unprotected server or misrepresentation of MFA/SSO coverage can lead to an insurer declaring a policy null and void.
How Datawiza Helps Close the Gaps
At Datawiza, our focus is simple: extend SSO everywhere without requiring application rewrites or disruptive migrations. One of the biggest underwriting red flags today is legacy and custom applications sitting outside the SSO perimeter. These systems frequently rely on local credentials and outdated authentication patterns.
Datawiza helps bring those applications under centralized authentication by:
- Enabling SSO for apps that don’t natively support it
- Eliminating local credentials and direct login paths
- Routing authentication through your existing trusted Identity Provider
This removes one of the most common identity gaps insurers uncover during renewals.
Datawiza also improves audit visibility. Organizations gain clearer insight into which applications are protected by centralized authentication and how access policies are applied. Instead of managing a patchwork of login systems, companies can enforce SSO consistently across environments—something insurers increasingly expect.
The bottom line is this: SSO is now a foundational control for managing cyber risk. The reality is that uncertainty raises premiums. But a unified SSO strategy proves to insurers that you have total visibility over your environment.
