Six Things Successful Cyber Brokers Know

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Marijana Dabic

The case for cyber insurance gets stronger by the day, as cyber incidents grow in cost, cyber attacks become more frequent and cyber policies offer more innovative and effective services. But cyber is still a new market. Businesses often aren’t aware of their cyber risk or the role cyber insurance can play in protecting them. So how can you educate your customers about cyber?

CFC sat down with some of their top-performing cyber brokers to discover their secrets to success. Here are six things they say every broker selling cyber should know:

How to explain cyber exposure simplySince lots of businesses are new to cyber, jumping straight into granular detail can feel unrelatable and unconvincing. Businesses don’t need to know the difference between the Cobalt Strike infection and the Log4Shell vulnerability. They care about how they’re at risk, the potential consequences of that risk and how they can prevent it. So stick to the basics and avoid unnecessary jargon.
It helps to ask the right questions. What cyber security practices do you have in place? Do you consider data privacy? Have you been impacted by a cyber attack before? Your client’s answers will paint a picture of their cyber exposure, so they can understand their risk and how cyber insurance is here to help.

And there’s nothing better than a strong statistic to back up your points—did you know 72% of businesses worldwide have been impacted by ransomware in 2023?
Key factors that influence the priceCyber insurance provides great value for businesses big and small, but in many circles its cost is a topic of discussion. Those new to cyber may point to the price of cyber insurance coming close to more traditional lines, so it helps to know the three big factors that influence the cost:
1. Cyber incidents, particularly against SMBs, are the top business risk for the fifth year running
2. The average cost of a cyber claim is significant
3. Today’s cyber policies offer sophisticated technical services that would be too pricey for SMBs to get on their own

Learn more about why cyber insurance is a great investment for any business, plus a breakdown of cyber incident costs, in this quick read.
How to handle these top objections“I already invest in cyber security.”
Cyber insurance provides a different service to cyber security, it’s not a question of either/or. Good policies will support the business’s internal IT team or external managed service provider with an expert incident response and business recovery team, while being there to cover financial loss if the worst happens.

“Cyber attacks only affect big businesses.”
While it’s attacks on household names that make the news, any business can find itself hit by a cybercriminal. And since smaller businesses tend to have less mature cyber security practices in place, cybercriminals often see them as the more attractive target.

“We don’t collect sensitive data.”
Two of the most common and costly cyber attacks we see are actually ransomware and funds transfer fraud, which aren’t necessarily aimed at stealing data. The cost to contain threats, repair networks and restore business operations—or to recover stolen funds—are the insured’s biggest worry. Thankfully, both types of incident are covered under CFC’s cyber policy.

Use this checklist to find answers for more common objections.
Security assessments don’t tell the full storyBusinesses often use third-party risk reports and vulnerability scans to evaluate their cyber risk. While these assessments give a good snapshot of network health at a specific time, IT environments can change any day. This means assessments don’t reveal much around the level of security across a network, potentially presenting a far more positive picture than is the case.
Fully understanding when and how risk reports are beneficial will help your clients understand their risk and purchase the correct coverage. We explain risk reports in more depth here.
Good policies offer proactive and reactive servicesCyber insurance doesn’t just cover financial loss when an incident occurs. A good policy offers proactive protection to stop attacks from happening in the first place, and reactive support to respond to the incident efficiently and effectively.
From the moment a CFC cyber policy is bound, their global team of cyber experts works around the clock to detect and alert their customers to cyber threats targeting their business. If they discover a cyber security issue, their team notifies the impacted business though their Response app, and takes steps to remediate the threat before it escalates.

The value these services offer to small businesses in particular might just be the greatest benefit a cyber policy can provide.
The perfect analogy that shows the true value of cyberTaking out property insurance in case of a fire is seen as standard practice. Alarms and sprinklers can reduce fire damage, but they can’t remove the possibility of you facing a costly bill and business interruption. It’s the same principle for cyber.
The most advanced cyber security available can still get caught out by a new vulnerability or threat. Without cover, the impacted business won’t receive support in their incident response and recovery, and it’ll bear the financial burden alone.

CFC’s cyber policy is the full package. For a smoke alarm they offer proactive cyber attack prevention, for a sprinkler system the largest in-house team of incident responders in market. And at the end they cover any damage and loss of income, helping policyholders get back on their feet.

With today’s cyber policies broadening their cover and protection, and cyber risk escalating at an alarming rate, cyber insurance is set to play a bigger role than ever before. By helping your clients to understand their cyber risk- and how cyber insurance is such a gamechanger – you and CFC can help protect businesses and perhaps even turn the tide on cybercrime.

See how you can best speak to your clients about cyber risk and insurance in CFC’s on-demand webinar.

Source: www.cfcunderwriting.com

Debunking AI Hysteria

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Marijana Dabic

Should we be spooked by the current AI hysteria? While it’s true that AI risks are evolving fast, adopting the right approach can leave us better placed for what the future has in store.

The rise of AI has been nothing short of revolutionary. But as headlines shout about job-stealing algorithms and sentient AI plotting to overthrow us all, it’s easy to get caught up in a whirlwind of panic and paranoia. Fortunately, society doesn’t have to pack its bags for the AI apocalypse just yet.

The truth is that AI has been around for decades. In call centers as far back as the 1950s, automatic call distributors have routed calls to the right agent at the right time. In the 2010s, chatbots began to transform customer service. Now in the 2020s, AI has impacted most industries to some degree, with new use cases and risks bound to emerge in the future. The question is, how can we prepare for them?

The risks associated with AI
If AI has been around for such a long time, why the current hysteria? It’s all to do with accessibility. It used to be that AI tools were expensive and hard to use. These days, however, anyone can use tools like ChatGPT on the internet for free. This opens up a wealth of use cases, with businesses everywhere looking to AI for a competitive advantage. But to capitalize fully, they also need to address the risks that AI brings.

Nowhere is this more apparent than with generative AI. From GPT-4 to Bard, these tools are often built on large language models that analyze information from different sources, principally the internet. But who owns the content they produce? If a tool produces an image that includes unauthorized use of copyrighted material, who is liable? How about if the AI inadvertently infringes on third-party intellectual property (IP)? Or if a professional is given misinformation that leads them to taking actions that negatively impact their business or their clients?

In Hollywood, the writers’ strike showed just how AI can be a double-edged sword. The ability for AI tools to write scripts in seconds and list limitless episode ideas is a gamechanger for production businesses but has writers fearing for their livelihoods. Then there’s the matter of built-in bias. If a dataset for identifying credit risk in the UK is deployed in the US, the AI tool will lack accuracy. In the medical world, this can lead to patients not being flagged for health screenings, inaccurate diagnosis and inappropriate treatment.

That’s not all. There are privacy concerns, cyber security issues, a growing regulatory environment to consider. Different countries can take different approaches to regulation, and businesses must comply with all at once if they’re to operate in all those regions. Suddenly the AI hysteria makes a lot of sense. There are so many use cases, so many potential risks, that the future feels uncertain. But that doesn’t mean we can’t prepare ourselves for that uncertainty.

A futureproof approach
While AI risks are complex and varied, CFC has been writing them for years. Recently, they covered an AI-powered crop health assessment tool that provides actionable data to farmers in real time. To cover exposures across technology, errors and omissions, bodily injury, IP and cyber, they provided a $2 million limit. Then there’s an AI tool that generates virtual assets for backgrounds in video games. They provided the business with a $2 million limit for its technology, errors and omissions, bodily injury, IP and cyber exposures.

Still, in the AI space it’s vital to tread cautiously. Step into a fast-moving market with unknown liability issues and risk getting swept away by the current. The secret to success is knowing that AI risk isn’t the same as standard technology risk and we need to understand the nuances between them. That’s why more people are working on AI at CFC than at any other provider in market. They don’t have all the answers, but they do have some of the foremost experts in the industry ready to react wherever exposures arise.

It’s difficult to predict how this space will evolve. The only way of meeting AI risks head on is by broadening our outlook and considering emerging exposures with a cautious eye. This way, we can dampen the hysteria, prepare for opportunities that lie ahead and help build a society that’s maximizing AI. What better time to start than now.

Source: www.cfcunderwriting.com

Is Media and Entertainment Insurance Right for Your Business?

Posted on September 29, 2023 by Marijana Dabic

Not sure if your creative business really needs insurance? Here are a few reasons why it’s a smart idea to invest.

The creative world is fast and furious, with so much going on that insurance typically isn’t top of mind. But as technology quickly changes risk profiles across the industry, taking out a policy can be the difference between sinking and surviving in a drawn-out dispute. So how does insurance actually work in media and entertainment, and does it really make sense to invest?

Let’s banish the uncertainty. Here are five reasons why purchasing media and entertainment insurance could be a smart decision for your business.

Peace of mind against IP infringement and defamation, forever
Big intellectual property (IP) cases have a knack of hitting headlines, but these are the just the tip of a huge iceberg. Anyone who produces or promotes content in the public domain is at risk. That goes for whether you intentionally use a third party’s IP, thinking you have the right licenses and contracts in place, or unknowingly use something that’s been trademarked by another party, or make a defamatory statement.

Media liability insurance protects you against a whole host of IP infringement allegations such as copyright and trademark infringement, and covers defamation—something most general liability policies exclude. By carrying an occurrence-based trigger, any content you produce in a given period will also be protected indefinitely from the day of purchase, even if a claim is filed years later.

Contingent bodily injury and property damage
While general liability policies provide cover for bodily injury and property damage claims resulting from a direct physical interaction, most policies will exclude claims resulting from content you distribute or services you provide. This is particularly pertinent given the shift online for most content distribution and consumption in the modern era.

If your services are carried out online, like on YouTube, you could equally be liable if a claimant injures themselves or damages property as a result of an incorrect instruction given in one of your videos. That’s why taking out a specific media policy is so vital. You can receive support for any bodily injury and property damage claim that results from your business activities, eliminating this gap in coverage.

The potential for breaching contracts is huge
In such a fast-paced industry, keeping to deadlines and maintaining professional standards are integral to success. Even with the best of intentions—contractual obligations can miss the mark and these can often be particularly costly when clients are relying on timely and effective delivery.

It’s tempting to think you’ll never have to make or face a breach of contract claim. Media errors & omissions insurance can provide broad and unambiguous cover, and cater to license agreements, endorsement deals and contracts for services—key steps in empowering today’s creatives to collaborate with confidence.

Protection for your outsourced functions
Collaborating with freelancers and other businesses is often essential when operating in the media space and this inevitably opens the door to vicarious liability risk for work undertaken on your behalf.

Going with a policy that offers sub-contractors’ vicarious liability as standard gives you protection in the event you are held liable. This means that you will have protection in place if you are held responsible for the actions of a third party, enabling you to make the most of your freelance network, safe in the knowledge you have the right protections in place.

Cyber security and support come free
Do you have the right security practices in place for your third-party data? How about the means to proactively prevent cyber attacks and preserve business uptime?

Cyber insurance is evolving to keep pace with today’s technology-driven media and entertainment space. It’s already playing a vital role in safeguarding trading in the digital ecosystem, and it can come as standard in a media-specific policy, backed by expert incident response and claims handling support.

Media insurance isn’t just a safety net for when you file or face a claim. No matter if you create or distribute content, or provide services that support this output, the right policy empowers you to work with confidence, fully utilize your third-party network, and deliver engaging content that truly turns heads.

Source: www.cfcunderwriting.com

Making Insurance a Choice for Everyone

Posted on August 29, 2023 by Marijana Dabic

Discover how diversity, equity and inclusion are climbing up the agenda in insurance, with insights from Carlo Pozella, Learning and Development Manager, and Ellie Khan, Talent Acquisition and Inclusion Specialist. Originally published by Harrington Starr.

In today’s globalized world, the financial sector is being enriched by an influx of diverse talent, having made great strides in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. But DEI isn’t one and done. In insurance in particular, we’re seeing a lot of potential – and positive intent – to improve.

Take today’s demographic of new starters. While many join insurance directly from university, gaining a degree isn’t mandatory. In fact, there are many ways to build a career, from apprenticeships to junior positions. Graduates will forever be a vital part of the industry, but as employers, we must acknowledge that university isn’t for everyone, and that many people never get the opportunity to attend.

Business need to be a real launchpad for individuals starting their careers—no matter their culture, gender or socioeconomic background—and they will see an increase in experienced, diverse talent joining the business, particularly across support roles where skills are more easily transferred between industry sectors. In this sense, DEI isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s a vital step in widening the industry’s talent pool, attracting people from all areas and building a workforce with real breadth of experience and skill.

Setting recruitment targets is a great way to create this level playing field and encourage talent diversity. The faster insurance as a whole opens up to new perspectives and ways of doing things, the more it stands to gain as diversity stimulates innovation.

Here, a modern recruitment journey is key. Have you tried posting job advertisements that aim to include, not exclude, by focusing more on general skills and experiences? How about offering brochures to interviewees so they can get a real sense of what the company is about? Or investing in immersive hiring skills training that goes beyond unconscious bias, to help interviewers operate in a way that’s fair?

As the world changes, our recruitment practices have to keep up. By creating a structured journey, it’s easy to offer consistency and accommodate different needs. An open interview process doesn’t exclude anyone, and simply means the business can hire the best person for the job.

There’s no quick way to enable equal opportunities for everyone everywhere. It’s a journey that starts with recruitment and goes on to influence how the entire organization operates.

If DEI ever was a tick-box exercise, today it’s so much more. With the right approach, insurance can pave the way for a host of new talent, and benefit from a vibrant blend of experiences, skillsets and perspectives. What better time to start than now.

Originally published in Harrington Starr’s ‘The Financial Technologist’. Get your free copy of the digital magazine here.

Source: www.cfcunderwriting.com

Future Trends Shaping AI Regulation

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Marijana Dabic

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform industries far and wide, it’s time for regulation to catch up. Here’s how the landscape will change.

When you consider the impact of AI on our lives as consumers, it’s really no surprise that the industry worldwide is also being transformed.

Just as predictive text on smartphones uses language models to suggest words far faster than fingers can type, AI is making all kinds of business processes more accurate and efficient. But is AI developing too fast?

We’re not suggesting that AI will become uncontrollable and set out on world domination. But it does have key industry figures worried, such as the ‘godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton, who resigned from Google over his prognosis of the direction of AI.

This is why we’re talking about an expanding regulatory gap. As AI continues to develop and improve ways of working, does the regulation currently exist to safeguard those involved in case of a mistake or fault?

Yes or no, as we increasingly use AI, what’s certain is that new exposures will emerge. This will cause big changes in how we approach the technology, as the global community looks to strike a balance between innovation and ethical considerations. Still, the best way of minimizing risk is to keep two eyes fixed on today’s rapidly changing regulatory landscape – and forecast where it’ll turn next.

The current state

Today, the global regulatory landscape is seeing different countries adopting different strategies.

Some nations have taken a proactive approach, implementing comprehensive frameworks which govern AI development and deployment. Look no further than the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), crucial in setting standards for transparency, data protection and the right to explanation in AI systems.

Presently, the EU is looking to classify AI systems on the risk they may pose to users, with a sliding scale of penalties and enforcement actions. While China, with a fear that AI could undermine national unity, is racing to regulate. The country is drafting regulations that require companies to register generative AI products with their cyberspace agency and submit them to a security assessment before release.

Future trends

Globally, we are likely to see a greater focus on AI regulation centered around five key trends.

Harmonization
With the same AI products being used in multiple countries, it stands to reason that these countries will ramp up their collaboration efforts. As different regions work together to establish common standards and best practices for AI, this should also ease global cooperation and streamline AI development.

Ethical frameworks
Much of AI is unchartered territory, so the coming years will see more comprehensive ethical guidelines that address bias, fairness and accountability. It will become standard for organizations to implement measures that ensure responsible AI development and usage across their entire operations.

Transparency
To most of us, AI operates in a shroud of secrecy. But going forward, demand for transparency in AI algorithms and decision making will grow. Regulators will likely require organizations to provide clearer explanations for AI-driven outcomes. Particularly in industries like healthcare and finance, this will strengthen trust and mitigate the risk that comes with black-box AI systems. Already technology is emerging to assess the reliability of AI models.

Risk-based approaches
Focus is set to intensify on the potential harm AI can cause. Regulators will seek to identify and assess risks associated with AI systems, leading to targeted regulatory interventions – an approach that will foster innovation while safeguarding users against risk.

Constant adaptation
AI development shows no signs of slowing, and regulation will have to constantly evolve to keep up. As we look to build an agile regulatory framework, expect to see AI developers, industry experts and society at large collaborate closer than ever to deliver the flexibility that’s required.

Staying onside

Even as the regulatory landscape matures, AI will still introduce new exposures. Taking out the right insurance policy can protect organizations against their unique risks, and empower them to use and benefit from AI with confidence.

Traditionally, technology companies don’t consider their regulatory exposure as they’re not usually governed by bodies in the same way more typical professions are. But as technology pervades daily life, regulatory risk will undoubtedly grow into a much bigger exposure for emerging technology companies.

Source: www.cfcunderwriting.com