Cyber insurance is probably mainstream and is a simple business cost. Here are a couple of options.
Cyber insurance is fast becoming a must in the midst of cybercrime, money laundering, and daily threats. The issue is that it’s a bit daunting to wad through insurers. I went shopping with that in mind.
Cyber policies increase the cost of doing business for large companies. Large companies, such as Equifax, Marriott and SolarWinds, were all covered by high-profile data violations to reduce their impact. The coverage may not be for smaller companies.
I’ve got some working cyber insurance market theories.
- This year – 2021 – cyber insurance is changing significantly. For companies, like home and car, cyber insurance may be needed.
- Massive insurers are dominating the market for large companies, but marketing sectors targeting medium-sized and smaller companies are being developed.
- Cyber insurance might be part of a stack of cloud services. Google’s partnership with Munich Re and Allianz, for example, is a start, although cyber insurance can be sold back by cloud suppliers, Internet hosting companies and other parts of the corporate technology pile.
- While cyber insurance could become part or at least easier to purchase of a tech bundle, a fragmentation of the market will allow many players to gun for policies. Cyber insurance project Reportlinker projects to reach a global market of $70.6 billion in 2030, up $5.6 billion in 2019.
In all events, scouting with cyber insurance must begin for companies. In the United States the top 20 cyber insurance providers represented 92 percent of the market, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissars (NAIC).
Allianz
Allianz provides cyber insurance on a standalone basis but is now partnered with Google Cloud along with Munich Re under a program called Cloud Protection +. The pairing is likely to move Allianz as well as partner Munich Re up the cyber insurance rankings.
AIG
AIG’s cyber insurance can be standalone or added to an existing policy as an endorsement. AIG also offers three cyber insurance products.
- CyberEdge, which covers the financial costs due to a breach as well as first-party costs.
- CyberEdge Plus to cover physical world losses caused by a cyber event including business interruption and property damages.
- CyberEdge PC, which can be added to traditional property and casualty policies.
AIG also offers threat scoring and analytics as well as tools to prevent attacks. AIG has a network of vendors to restore and recover, too.
AXA
According to NAIC, AXA is the cyber insurance market share leader based on standalone policies. AXA’s cyber insurance covers North America and writes policies for data breach response and crisis management, privacy and security liability, business interruption, data recovery, cyber extortion and ransomware, and PCI among others.
AXA also provides risk mitigation resources via partners and an online service called CyberRiskConnect. Here’s a sample policy.
Cowbell Cyber
Cowbell Cyber aims to automate data collection with its cloud platform, provide observability and monitoring, and then combine it with risk scoring, actuarial science, and underwriting. The company recently raised $20 million in venture funding.
The company’s portfolio includes cybersecurity awareness training, continuous risk assessment, and pre- and post-breach risk improvement services. Cowbell Cyber also has a free risk assessment service called Cowbell Factors, which adds a freemium element to selling cyber policies.
Beazley
Compared to the big insurers, Beazley isn’t a household name, but NAIC rates the firm No. 4 with 11.2% market share just behind Travelers.
Beazley’s headliner is Beazley Breach Response, which is a customized policy based on a company’s situation. Beazley claims to be the “world’s best designed cyber insurance solution.” Beazley also covers breach response services for up to five million people.
For companies in specific industries, Beazley looks like an option. Beazley counts healthcare, higher education, hospitality, financial services, and retail as target industries.
Corvus
Corvus has a host of business insurance products but has a bevy of first-party cyber insurance offerings for business interruption, system failure, cyber extortion and ransomware, and breach response and remediation to name a few.
The company, which recently raised $100 million in venture funding, uses a broker-focused approach to use AI to analyze data to predict and prevent loss. The data Corvus brings together helps policyholders, underwriters, brokers, and reinsurers address market requirements. Phil Edmundson, CEO of Corvus, said that artificial intelligence and data science can simplify the cyber insurance workflow. “If you try to read a cyber policy even knowledgeable people would find it challenging,” he said.
Hiscox
Hiscox specializes in cyber insurance for small businesses. The firm is also spending heavily on marketing but is worth a look. The company offers a training academy to shore up small business defenses, or what it calls the “human firewall.”
According to Hiscox, its cyber insurance covers lost business revenue and data recovery costs, money lost to phishing, defense against fines and privacy lawsuits, and breach response. The Hiscox policies also include digital media upgrades. It doesn’t cover criminal action, fund transfer, infrastructure interruption, and prior acts of knowledge.
Travelers
Travelers takes a broader approach to cyber insurance, with plans designed to mitigate risks for companies of all sizes. The insurer has cyber insurance plans for technology companies, public entities, and SMBs.
The company bundles pre- and post-breach services provided by Symantec and a hub to evaluate risks.
Travelers policies fall into these categories:
- CyberRisk, a broad policy for companies of all sizes that can be standalone or part of another liability policy.
- CyberRisk Tech for Technology Companies, designed for tech firms.
- CyberRisk for Public Entities, a policy aimed at municipalities, counties, utilities, and transit authorities.
- CyberFirst Essentials, a policy for small businesses that can be standalone or part of a broader business owner policy.
Resilience
While the big-name insurers are going after the large enterprises, midmarket companies may gravitate toward a specialist. Midmarket companies often have their own tech providers since they are often ignored by large enterprise vendors.
Cyber insurance companies may also shortchange the midmarket. Resilience offers cyber insurance with a few interesting perks. First, it combines insurance and expertise like the large players. And, second, Resilience includes a program where customers can earn credit to put toward security services and products.
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