Digital Platforms

In other news: Zurich releases cyber risk survey results; Hertz and Uber to add 50,000 Teslas to network; Amica selects Shift Technology.

Keynova Group, a financial services intelligence firm specializing in benchmark insights, released its 2021 Small Commercial Insurance Scorecard report, which evaluates the small commercial insurance digital capabilities of the 10 largest U.S. carriers.

About four in 10 executives cited technology as their company’s greatest challenge, twice as many as in 2019, according to a new survey from LIMRA and Boston Consulting Group.

That’s the takeaway from an Aon Plc survey of 2,344 risk managers, chief risk officers and chief financial officers conducted in the second quarter. Cyber attacks were the No. 1 most-cited hazard, and more than half of the Top 10 risks executives say they face today are tied to the pandemic, according to survey results released Tuesday.

Insurance blockchain working group The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative has partnered with Trustlayer to build out an insurance verification proof of concept.

Deciding which transformation initiatives to tackle first should involve a careful examination of the dysfunction, importance and level of change resistance expected among stakeholders of any process that may be impacted.

The number of cyber insurance claims AGCS has seen has increased in the past few years, following along with general cyber risk trends. In 2020, the company received more than 1,000 in total, compared to 80 in 2016. This trend has continued into 2021.

Digital Insurance spoke with Maroun Mourad, president of global underwriting and leader of the life unit at Verisk about life insurance technology and what’s ahead for the industry.

In other news: Algorithm calculates number of good health years; Hiro rebrands to Locket; Alliant launches diversity initiative.

Microsoft 365 customers are eligible for discounts on At-Bay cyber insurance if certain security controls are implemented like multifactor authentication and Microsoft Defender.

In other news: Allstate closes $400M sale of New York life, annuity business; USAA partners with Blink by Chubb; Zurich North America implements Chisel AI.

Globally, 72% of respondents said they would share some personal data with their insurer but when broken down by gender, only 68% of women and 75% of men said they would share.

Haven Technologies will make the platform behind MassMutal’s Haven Life available as a software-as-a-service insurtech.

Honda’s vision of how people will work, travel and spend leisure time in the future will help expand its business beyond cars, lawn mowers and motorcycles. The efforts are a key component of Honda’s “2030 Vision” to broaden the definition of mobility and to improve peoples’ daily lives.

As regulators and insurers work to understand the level of regulatory oversight that is needed for AI innovation, there is a path forward by looking to the recent past. The massive 2015 breach of Anthem’s customer data was a catalyst moment for insurance regulators and led to the Insurance Data Security Model Law now being adopted across the U.S. In this piece, former insurance regulator Jillian Froment lays out five core goals common to AI and cybersecurity that could accelerate the adoption of AI regulation.

In other news: Amerisure implements One Inc ClaimsPay tech; California drivers report distracted driving is getting worse; HSB adds social media income to home cyber protection.

“Spot,” created by Boston Dynamics, known for its viral robot videos, and customized for Farmers, a P&C insurer, is the first collaboration of its kind.

In other news: Hippo launches Builders Program; handdii wins the 2021 ACORD Insurtech Innovation Challenge New York; Blockchain-backed title insurance launches in five states.

Many insurers are focused on ransomware risk protection even though other new vulnerabilities are emerging from remote work. Recent statistics point to a troubling increase in ransomware and phishing, web application attacks and other emerging cybercrime tactics.

A new report, IT’s Changing Mandate in an Age of Disruption conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, supported by Appian, suggests that to continue with various digital transformations and increase adaptability for the future, some IT improvements must be made.

Chief executives from across the business world are set to join President Joe Biden for a discussion Wednesday on how industry and the federal government can partner to improve cybersecurity in the face of debilitating ransomware and cyberattacks.

Future automobiles will likely need to include passive technology to monitor for driving under the influence and automatic emergency braking.

With cyberattacks on the rise and demand for coverage surging, the $3 billion industry of protecting companies against hackers is at an inflection point.

A trove of company data was stolen, and CNA officials were locked out of their network, according to sources.

Also: Lemonade adds life insurance with Bestow

Celent finds the two most important corporate goals impacting 2021 tech plans are growth and process optimization.

Cybersecurity is top priority for the life insurer, says tech leader.

Laura Deaner joins the company from S&P Global.

Emerging consumer attitudes toward privacy threaten to overturn long-standing industry assumptions about customer data and personalization.

With the growing vulnerabilities and uncertainty of our highly globalized and connected world, actions in one place can spread rapidly to have global effects.

PaymentSource's Daniel Wolfe sits down with Carey O'Connor Kolaja, AU10TIX's new CEO to discuss the rise in synthetic fraud, the fastest-growing financial crime, and how payments security has been changed by the pandemic.

Tech leader for commercial insurer discusses becoming more agile, working with Google, incorporating automation.

Folksam Group, which oversees about $50 billion in insurance assets, said it shared client data with Facebook, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn and Adobe, according to a statement on Tuesday.

Customers were ready to leverage drones and self-service after weeks under social-distancing regulations, insurers say.

The Ring Always Home Cam moves autonomously and is equipped with an indoor camera, giving users multiple view points of their homes.

To understand how the idea of dynamic risk assessment works, we first need to unlearn certain assumptions.

New research finds that it's become harder than ever to acquire new customers — and equally challenging to engage newly acquired ones.

The coronavirus outbreak is impacting the cyber risk landscape, with reports of maritime and offshore energy companies having faced a 400% increase in attempted cyber-attacks since the pandemic began.

Computer vision helps us turn the vast amount of geospatial imagery generated by satellite, reconnaissance planes, and drones into geospatial intelligence to be used in risk assessment, loss prevention, risk management, and product innovation.

Start-ups and other companies have been working to develop tech innovations addressing extreme-weather disasters.

Helping insurers to use new and emerging sources of data to streamline or improve operations and processes, reduce costs, and boost efficiency.

Policy admin suite will underpin digital transformation for global insurance giant.

Many insurers report no changes to their plans, with some reshaping and a few accelerating, but very few pausing or retrenching.

Nimish Mehta discusses the rapid transition required to keep the company going during the crisis.

Acquiring company, Vexcel Imaging, will have ownership of imagery and data library as the companies work together on other projects.

Attackers are always growing smarter, more creative and more aggressive, and environments are always growing more complex.

The fastest growing job roles will be data scientist, machine learning design/development/engineer and data engineer.

Artificial intelligence will shape the technology landscape of the 2020s, but unintended consequences pose big risks, according to a new report from ISACA.

Even though the threats emerging in the New Year won’t be any less intense, complicated or difficult to manage, 2020 is likely to be the year of simplified security.

Most business leaders think digitization can help address growing customer expectations for rapid and personalized engagement, and are beginning this process by refining business operations.

Delta Dental of Arizona is alerting some patients that their information may be at risk after it identified suspicious activity in an employee’s email account.

Executives from the bank and the tech company have been working for months to create a cloud designed to address the challenges that often slow the adoption of cloud computing by financial institutions.