“The nature of cybersecurity is evolving so quickly it can be difficult for businesses to keep track of the risks, let alone the solutions,” said Paul Horgan, head of North America Commercial Insurance for Zurich North America. “Cyber is top of mind for our customers who want and need a risk advisor. That is why we continue to invest in this space and continue to work to identify risks and deliver solutions for businesses.”
A new level of cybersecurity expertise in risk engineering and underwriting
For more than a century, Zurich has been a leader in risk management to help businesses understand and protect themselves from risk in a rapidly changing world and this rings true nowhere more so than in the cybersecurity arena.
- In-house, dedicated cyber risk engineering team - Earlier this year, Zurich became the first insurance carrier to create an in-house, dedicated cyber risk engineering team and named Gerry Kane to lead it. As a result of a global risk engineering practice consisting of more than 700 risk professionals across multiple lines of business and industries, Zurich is able to provide a comprehensive approach to cyber risk through risk insights, industry expertise and claims mitigation, which is offered to all Zurich cyber insurance policyholders around the globe.
- Cyber Fusion Center - Zurich cyber insurance customers also are benefiting from the insights of Zurich’s Cyber Fusion Center, an internal cyber threat intelligence group that gathers intel on emerging cyber threats and creates actionable items for Zurich customers, as well as education points for brokers. Opened earlier this year, the Cyber Fusion Center is a dedicated, physical space designed to monitor, detect and respond to cyber threats.
- Cyber Underwriting - In August, Zurich’s cyber underwriting team incorporated a new insight tool called Cyence to help make better underwriting, pricing, and enterprise risk management decisions; aiding in efforts to protect customers while protecting Zurich’s bottom line. Cyence combines data science, cybersecurity and economics into an analytics platform that quantifies the financial impact of cyber-related events.
Reorganizes Cybersecurity and Privacy Team - Zurich enhances focus on middle-market customers
Under the leadership of Michelle Chia, who became head of Specialty Products E&O earlier this year, Zurich has increased the size of its cybersecurity and privacy team and restructured it to create three dedicated business leads including an enhanced focus on middle-market customers looking for cybersecurity solutions.
An eight-year Zurich veteran, Brett Kreiter leads the Middle Market segment and is charged with identifying innovative opportunities to provide comprehensive cyber solutions to Zurich’s Middle Market customers.
In addition, Kevin Maloney, who has been in the financial lines space for more than 13 years, is leading the Emerging Structures segment. As technology, cyber security risk, and customers’ needs evolve, Zurich is committed to providing innovative solutions for customers that require the highest levels of complexity and sophistication.
“As cybersecurity incidents and concerns continue to evolve, more and more medium-sized businesses have communicated their desire for resources to address those concerns,” said Chia. “Zurich is well-positioned to understand their specific needs and to help the middle market protect themselves for cyber incidents of all kinds.”
More information about Zurich’s cybersecurity solutions can be found at https://www.zurichna.com/securityandprivacy. Locate additional cyber-related literature at https://www.zurichna.com/cyber.
About Zurich
Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) is a leading multi-line insurer that serves its customers in global and local markets. With about 53,000 employees, it provides a wide range of property and casualty, and life insurance products and services in more than 210 countries and territories. Zurich’s customers include individuals, small businesses, and mid-sized and large companies, as well as multinational corporations. The Group is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1872.