Three critical components of a cyber policy
Compiled by Insurance24
HARARE, Modern cyber policies provide coverage against a vast array of digital hazards. As hackers change tactics, insurance companies are forced to evolve in order to make sure insureds are protected against emerging risks.
Although cyber criminals seem to be one step ahead of the authorities, leading cyber insurance companies are doing a good job of creating broad and forward thinking policies that protect a client in the event of a cyberattack.
Here, Insurance Business looks at three of the critical components of a modern cyber policy.
Cyber Extortion
“Cyber extortion usually involves an attack, or the threat of an attack, against a business which includes a demand for money,” said Jeremy Barnett, senior vice president of marketing at NAS Insurance Services. “Online extortion can take many forms and could involve a denial of service attack or the encryption of the insured’s data and holding it hostage. This part of the policy offers coverage for extortion expenses incurred and extortion monies paid as a direct result of a credible cyber extortion threat.”
Brand Protection
Maintaining a successful and positive brand image is critical for a business of any size in any industry. Consumer perceptions go a long way to defining the success of a business, particularly in the modern era. NAS’s BrandGuard® feature provides protection for a company’s reputation in the event of a cyberattack.
This part of the policy offers coverage for lost revenue incurred as a direct result of an adverse media report or notification to affected individuals following a security breach or privacy breach.
Network Asset Protection
This offers coverage when costs are incurred to recover and/or replace electronic data that is compromised, damaged, lost, erased or corrupted due to accidental damage or destruction of electronic media, or computer hardware or administrative, or operational mistakes in the handling of electronic data.
“Coverage also extends to business income loss and interruption expenses incurred because of a total or partial interruption of an insured computer system directly caused by any of the above events,” Barnett explained. “Dependent Business Interruption is an added enhancement to the network asset protection coverage component that covers a business’s loss of income and interruption expenses incurred as a result of a third party provider’s system going down.”
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Aon Benfield taps Willis Re’s Smart for global re specialty role
Compiled by Insurance24
HARARE, Willis Re Bermuda executive vice president John Smart is set to join Aon Benfield’s global reinsurance specialty operation, The Insurance Insider understands.
Bermuda-based Smart will become executive managing director of global specialities for Aon Benfield. He joins a growing group of senior executives who have recently joined the Aon unit on the island or said they would.
He will work alongside Jonathan Davies, who relocated from London to Bermuda in April to join the global reinsurance specialty team there. As with Davies, Smart will report to Tony Fox, chairman of Aon Benfield Bermuda.
Aon Benfield has been building its Bermuda team back up having lost staff over the past two years, including Chris McDowell, who left in 2016 to join Willis Re, and Erik Manning, who departed to set up an ILS manager.
Many of Aon Benfield’s recent senior hires have come over from Guy Carpenter, following former Europe, Middle East and Africa CEO Nick Frankland’s move between the two brokers.
Late last month, Guy Carpenter’s Bermuda CEO Peter Stubbings left to join Aon Benfield as deputy CEO of the Global Re Specialty division.
Matthias Meyenhofer, a Guy Carpenter executive, said in March he would join Aon Benfield as Bermuda CEO in September.
Last month, Aon Benfield also hired Guy Carpenter’s Eric Paire as head of Aon Benfield’s capital advisory group.
Aon Benfield and Willis Re declined to comment.
InsuranceInsider
InFocus: International insurance
The game-changing policy for international clients
By Insurance24
HARARE, The demand for international business coverage is on the rise as more U.S. based organizations look to expand abroad to find better distribution, new markets or raw material sourcing. To capitalize on this global opportunity, clients soon realize the value of broad, robust international policies that follow their business development and employees who conduct business operations abroad, no matter what country anywhere in the world.
Global trends have been on the rise for decades causing change in the way that business is conducted. What began as a trend for the largest of firms has become more the norm for middle market business in operating in most kinds of industries. Any company with foreign sales, imports or exports; foreign suppliers; or employees who travel outside the U.S. on business should seriously consider buying international coverage.
“It’s hard to believe, but 20-25 years ago, very few brokers had clients with a website– now everybody does,” says Chris Brutzman, AVP Product Leader at CNA. “The growth of the internet and its impact on the world has done much but especially as respects to global commerce. Any company, large or small, can be international without stepping outside their office as long as they have a website and are selling items overseas via the internet. In fact, doing business internationally can be so commonplace that insureds may not recognize that an exposure exists. This requires a bit of investigative work on the part of the agent or broker to dig into the client’s work beyond the basic applications for domestic commercial placements. No one wants to find this out when there is a claim overseas if the policy is not properly executed to afford international coverage.”
Even with so many clients doing business internationally, there is still a general lack of awareness around international exposures making it vitally important for brokers and agents to think globally. Building up your knowledge around the potential exposures, coverage options and requirements are all good ways for agents and brokers to differentiate themselves in the market. Working with an underwriter to ensure global exposures are anticipated and accounted for on every new line or renewal can separate them from the crowd and provide their clients with another much-needed layer of protection.
“Asking clients if they are going overseas or sending people overseas, is a good and simple first step towards exposure identification” Brutzman says. “International exposures impact most commercial risks. For the same reasons brokers and agents can sell insurance at home, there are the same and potentially greater exposures overseas. It’s all about raising clients’ awareness of risks that could have a significant financial impact.”
CNA has built a network of insurance provider partners in over 160 countries around the world in order to give clients with international exposures the best possible policies and service. Collaboration with local insurers on claims and risk control is a crucial aspect of how CNA ensures consistency in the services it offers across the world.
“We have processes in place so that, in the event of something happening, there is effective communication between everyone involved,” Brutzman says. “The controlling office and the claims handler in the US work closely with our partner on the ground at all stages of a claim. When our competition does not do that as effectively or they manage expectations poorly, that gives us an opportunity to win new accounts.”
CNA also performs thorough risk control analysis on clients with international exposures. From there, the insurer will make recommendations to the insured on how they can implement steps to prevent a claim from happening. “We are not necessarily looking for anything negative or bad through this process, we just want to make sure the operation sees what their exposures are,” Brutzman says. “Our brokers and agents understand that, it’s the same way overseas as it is here. We simply want to mitigate claims and control losses.
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