New cyber liability products and players continue to flood this already oversaturated market, but the real question is: is anyone buying them?
Well, it depends on whom you ask.
A recent survey of 164 risk and finance managers from Towers Watson found that 73 percent of companies have not purchased network liability policies. The study also said that many participants were not worried about or aware of their risk.
But insurance agencies that focus on smaller companies are experiencing different results.
“We are seeing a wide variety of companies buying the coverage,” says Stephen Haase, president of InsureTrust in Atlanta, Ga. “We have had a 30 percent increase in business this year, which is just unheard of in the wholesale business.”
Recent privacy breaches involving Epsilon and Sony have put this topic front and center again, demonstrating that companies need to be proactive in protecting their data and establishing a plan to deal with a breach should one occur, say underwriters.
“You look at these recent breaches and they are not new,” says Kurtis E. Suhs vice president and technology E&O & privacy national practice leader for Ironshore. “There have been breaches going on a long time, but what is different is the amount of information companies have now. I think as companies realize that, they have to look at what data they have, where they have it, and who is responsible to maintain the data.”
IronPro launched its Enterprise PrivateProtector 9.0 in October to assist businesses with managing their network security and privacy risks. The product provides Side A excess directors and officers (D&O) liability coverage arising from a network security or privacy wrongful act, as well as coverage for a company’s privacy breach expenses. It also protects against the potential liabilities from unauthorized access or use of an insured’s computer system, denial of service attacks and malicious code.
The product includes other coverages as well, including business interruption. It is aimed at financial services, healthcare, retail and hospitality areas with revenue up to $3 billion.
Suhs says the response to the coverage has been strong. “Because of the visibility of incidents, a lot of companies are looking at risk management and there is a lot of concern in the markets,” he said. “We are seeing buying in the marketplace.”To read the rest of the article, click here.