On January 28, NetDiligence^® will host their “2021 Cyber Trends and Predictions” webinar. Sponsored by Guidewire, this webinar covers the latest trends and predictions for the cyber market in the coming year. In anticipation of this exciting event, NetDiligence sat down with panel moderator Tom Harvey to find out what he sees as the key points of interest.

Each presenter in the group is an industry powerhouse. How do you see the expertise of the individuals coming together to make this a uniquely valuable experience for the audience?

TH: The group represents a true cross section of the cyber insurance market, with Tom Reagan (Marsh) representing the brokers and providing the voice of the policy holder, Tracie Grella (AIG) and Paul Bantick (Beazley) representing the carriers, and Maya Bundt (Swiss Re) providing the reinsurance perspective. Given all four companies are market leaders, I am looking forward to hearing how they have experienced a rather turbulent year for cyber, and what they are looking for in 2021.

In addition, all of the firms represented have invested in developing their own analytical capabilities, and it will be fascinating to learn the role analytics is playing today to support the growth of their cyber businesses.

NetDiligence^® typically sees a mix of insurance, legal, and forensic professionals at educational events. Would you say that this webinar is particularly geared to subset of that audience? Who should make this a “don’t miss” session?

TH: Hopefully, there will be a bit of something for everyone! Having said that, I believe it will be especially valuable for both leaders and practitioners within insurance to attend to hear the perspectives of our panelists.

We will be discussing the health of the overall market, touching on how client demand is changing and what they are now coming to expect from their insurers. We’ll also touch on how the influx of new capacity from emerging MGAs is impacting the market. And a cyber webinar would hardly be relevant without discussing ransomware – and so we’re excited to discuss the panelists’ perspectives on the key developments they’ve seen over the last 12 months and what if anything can be done to mitigate the impact of ransomware losses going forward.

2020 was a year that left us breathless. Every day seemed to bring new crises. What would you say was the biggest game changer in 2020, and how did Guidewire respond?

TH: Ransomware continues to be a major thorn in the side of insurers, causing real pressure on the profitability of cyber as a class of business.

Guidewire focused a great deal of effort last year on identifying signals which can be used to determine how susceptible a policyholder is to a ransomware attack. This work has been instrumental in helping inform underwriters at the point of risk selection, and in particular for those insuring small and medium sized businesses (SMBs).

We have also done a lot of work looking at the financial loss that stems from ransomware events across business interruption, forensics and data privacy losses (stemming from threat to release type events). This work has culminated in the recent release of an updated probabilistic loss model – providing support for pricing and accumulation management.

From your personal place in the industry, what development or trend will you be keeping your eye on this year (or month, really, given the volatility of current events)?

TH: There are some interesting trends emerging from 2020. From a threat landscape point of view, the recent SolarWinds attack is a stark reminder of the capabilities that many nation state attackers now possess. The attackers appear to have focused on espionage, meaning the financial losses for insurers were minimal. However, it is scary to think what the losses could have been if these capabilities had fallen into different hands. With the ShadowBrokers auction of 2017 showing there is a precedent for tools being leaked, this is a timely reminder that cyber has the potential to be a ‘cat’ peril.

I am also interested in the growing trend for more insurers providing proactive risk mitigation advice to their clients. We believe this is a huge opportunity for insurers to differentiate their offering and to grow the market, and it is something we are increasingly seeing insurers asking analytics firms like Guidewire to support.

Thank you, Tom, for your time and your insights! We are all looking forward to the conversation on January 28, and we also want to thank Guidewire for sponsoring this event.

Click here and register now for “2021 Cyber Trends and Predictions” or catch the webinar on-demand after January 28 using the same link.