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Merchants' Comprehensive Cybersecurity Strategy

By Nam Tran, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

In the surety industry, we handle sensitive financial information, credit data, and legal agreements daily. As a leading surety provider, Merchants Bonding Company is committed to using the best cybersecurity practices to safeguard the data of our partners and their clients. As the industry continues its digital evolution, especially with new technology like artificial intelligence, we continue to update and strengthen our security policies

Keeping Our Tools Up to Date

Merchants uses software to track bonds, manage claims, and assess risk. To protect against potential threats, we constantly update our systems with the latest tools to identify and fix any weaknesses that could lead to security breaches.

Devices like computers and mobile phones, which are essential for daily surety operations, are secured with antivirus software, firewalls, and encryption tools to prevent unauthorized access and to protect your data from cyberattacks.

Regularly Checking Security Measures

Merchants has a wide range of security measures in place, but we don’t stop there. We regularly review and test these controls to ensure they are working as expected. This helps us in several ways:

  • Third-Party Risk: Because surety work involves multiple parties, we don’t just secure our own systems. We also check the security of our partners who access our systems to prevent data breaches through their networks.
  • Reputation and Trust: Trust is key in the surety business. A data breach could harm both our reputation and the trust you have in us. By regularly testing our security, we show our commitment to protecting your sensitive data.
  • Industry Compliance: Validating our security measures helps us comply with industry standards and avoid fines, ensuring we operate securely and legally.

Preventing Data Loss

To prevent sensitive information from being accidentally shared or stolen, we use Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools. These tools help us in several ways:

  • Preventing Unauthorized Sharing: DLP ensures that sensitive information stays within Merchants. For example, it can block an employee from sending confidential financial information to a personal email or uploading it to an unsecure cloud service.
  • Protecting Confidential Client Data: Surety companies often handle proprietary business information. Our DLP policies ensure that only authorized people can access or share this information, protecting you from potential risks.
  • Following Financial Regulations: We follow strict financial and data privacy laws. Our DLP tools help us stay compliant with these regulations, which is especially important when dealing with government contracts.

At Merchants, cybersecurity is about more than just IT—it’s about compliance, protecting our business, and most importantly, safeguarding the trust of our valued partners with our multi-layered defense strategy.

 

How do I get a Surety Bond?

Surety bonds are issued by Merchants Bonding Company (Mutual) through insurance agents. Contact your local insurance agent or use our Find an Agent tool. They will guide you through the process, informing you of what documents and information are needed by the surety (Merchants Bonding Company (Mutual)) to underwrite your bond.

All information provided is subject to change.