Data security

Washington, D.C. - As the country approaches the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina next week, the American Insurance Association (AIA) and ProtectingAmerica.org were at odds as to how best to proceed with a national catastrophe agenda.

Needham, Mass. - In the wake of 2005--the worst year on record for insured catastrophe damage in the United States with losses estimated at $56.8 billion--the federal government, insurance carriers, and the general public are coming to a point of convergence about the need to rethink catastrophe management beyond the much publicized issues around hurricanes, according to new research from TowerGroup.In a report titled "Property and Casualty Insurance: Convergence in Catastrophe," the research and advisory firm finds that without a concerted effort by all parties to support a holistic solution to catastrophe management, the dire predictions of insolvency in the insurance sector and general economic upheaval across the United States may come to fruition.

New York - Guy Carpenter & Company Inc., a global risk and reinsurance specialist and part of the Marsh & McLennan Cos. has published a report, titled, "Nanotechnology: The Plastics of the 21st Century?," which provides an overview of the emerging science, its potential benefits for the global economy, and associated risks and implications for the insurance industry.A team of technology, environmental and casualty specialty professionals from Guy Carpenter and Dr. Robert Blaunstein, national director of loss control and underwriting manager for American Safety Insurance Co., prepared the report.

Kansas City, Mo. - The Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission added another state to its growing list of members, as Massachusetts became the 28th state to sign the Interstate Compact. Gov. Mitt Romney signed legislation into law today that allows Massachusetts to become a member of the Commission.Currently, 28 states have joined the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission. The compacting states are Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Armonk, N.Y. - Just a little over two weeks ago, Insurance Networking News reported IBM's acquisition of Austin, Texas-based Webify Solutions, which brought the total of IBM acquisitions to three in less than 15 months (See "IBM Sets SOA Sail"). Now IBM is adding another acquisition to the list.IBM and FileNet Corp. entered into a definitive agreement for Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM to acquire FileNet, a publicly held company headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., in an all-cash transaction at a price of approximately $1.6 billion, or $35 per share. The acquisition is subject to FileNet shareholder approval, regulatory reviews and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Washington - Former Sen. John Breaux hopes policy makers, health care experts and the American public will tune into and participate in a new blog on the Ceasefire on Health Care Web site, www.ceasefireonhealthcare.org.The Ceasefire on Health Care campaign's goal is finding bipartisan "common ground" agreements leading to market based, incremental change to the nation's health care system. The online forum is designed to supplement the Ceasefire podcast series and engage its participants in lively discussion about pressing health care reform trends and issues.

Lawrenceville, Ill. - UnitedHealthcare's Golden Rule Insurance Co. is offering its HSA customers a selection of mutual fund investment options as well as a debit card and online account management and bill paying services through Salt Lake City-based Exante Bank.Golden Rule helped pave the way for HSAs when it introduced a medical savings account more than a decade ago. More than 41% of the Lawrenceville, Ill.-based insurer's customers currently are covered by health insurance plans that include health savings accounts. As of June 30, 2006, these customers had accumulated more than $170 million in their health savings accounts; the average account balance exceeded $2,400.

Chicago - Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans has created a database of claims information (with no personal identifiers) from 79 million lives. Called Blue Health Intelligence (BHI), this resource is designed to help to improve health care quality through sharing critical health information initially with employers, and in the future, with consumers and providers.The secure, HIPAA-compliant database is significantly larger than existing healthcare databases, which may strengthen the movement to greater health care transparency by ultimately providing unmatched detail about health care trends and best practices.

WHITEHILL ACQUIRES INSYSTEMSMoncton, New Brunswick-based Whitehill Technologies Inc. purchased InSystems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Register, Dayton, Ohio, Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The combined company's critical mass will be nearly 1,000 customers strong, including several hundred insurance companies and more than half of the world's largest law firms, according to Paul McSpurren, president and CEO of Whitehill Technologies. Current InSystems customers should expect business to continue without interruption, according to the companies.

August - the heart of hurricane season.The hurricanes during August 2005 changed the insurance industry. In fact, with experts predicting a number of storms in 2006, carriers are taking action-developing tools and programs-to help their customers through natural disasters, especially hurricanes.

Today's consumer is king. With the ability to find an alternative solution for virtually any purchase in a few clicks on the Internet, consumers clearly have the upper hand. They are demanding more personalized products and services that meet their specific needs, and the ability to conduct business through any channel they choose-in person, online or by phone-without sacrificing service.As a consumer, these requirements are perfectly logical. As a business, they aren't that easy to fulfill in an environment where sales processes differ from channel to channel, and where customer data is historical, generally fragmented, and not always relevant.

24-HOUR ACCESS TO FINANCIAL FITNESSNew York-based Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America launched a proprietary Web-based system designed to help financial representatives enable their clients to instantly gauge their financial health and simplify their personal and business finances. The system enables financial reps and their clients to coordinate accounts from a menu of more than 3,000 financial institutions, access copies of important legal and financial documents from anywhere in the world, and get a comprehensive, up-to-date snapshot of their financial well-being.

Late spring 2005, the world learned that a crime ring that included call center employees of an Indian outsourcing company stole more than $300,000 from Citibank customers by tricking callers into giving up their PIN numbers.The news sent shockwaves through the industry, as India was the premier destination for business process outsourcing in the world.

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) continues to gain momentum as an important issue among U.S. life insurance company senior management, and economic capital (EC) software may be the key to successful ERM.In its Life Insurance CFO Survey in 2006, the Tillinghast division of Towers Perrin, New York, focused on how life insurers approach ERM in general terms, their risk management objectives and how they define their ERM framework. The survey also analyzed companies' approaches to establishing EC-the minimum amount of capital that the firm needs to bear its risks-including planned improvements to their existing EC framework.

Stevens Point, Wis. - Sentry Insurance, a property, casualty and life insurance provider for personal and commercial customers, reported today that personal information on more than 112,000 of its customers was stolen, and that data on 72 of them was sold over the Internet.

Chicago-CS Stars, an operating unit of Marsh, a Chicago-based risk and insurance services firm, today announced that a piece of computer hardware containing personal information of 540,000 injured workers held on behalf of the New York Special Funds Conservation Committee has been found and secured. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has told the company that it is reasonably certain that there was no use of any of the data stored on the hardware.

Waterloo, Ont. - California State Automobile Association (CSAA) plans to launch a pilot program this summer using telematics technology to improve driving safety. Using the DriveSync GPS vehicle tracking system from Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Inc. (IMS), CSSA intends to increase the value of AAA membership for itself and other AAA partners, including AAA Arizona, AAA Oklahoma and AAA MountainWest. Rapid vehicle location for roadside assistance and driver safety improvement are some of the areas that will be researched.DriveSync is a GPS vehicle tracking system that tracks vehicle location including the route, mileage and speeds of each trip. As a turnkey solution, IMS manages all aspects of driving data collection, storage, consolidation and reporting using fraud-prevention technology and military grade data encryption to ensure customer confidentiality. The system produces turn-by-turn trip logs, color-coded route maps and driving statistic reports, which can enable drivers to see a clear picture of their driving behavior and habits.

Chicago - Stating that 50 individual sets of individual insurance regulations results in a lack of transparency and a bottleneck to global trade, Frank Keating, president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers, called for an optional federal charter yesterday during his address to the International Insurance Society here.

Hartford, Conn. - The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.'s online Quote-to-Issue (QTI) system for rating, quoting and issuing comes in handy with its enhanced Dimensions auto insurance program, which will now be offered as Dimensions with Auto Packages. The Hartford expects online users to get and compare quotes for these packages to be faster and easier than before."We understand the demands on agents and the need for their staff to process business fast and efficiently," says Mike Concannon, senior vice president of personal lines for the Hartford, Conn.-based insurer. "Our QTI technology makes it easy for them to work with The Hartford."

Chicago - Attendees at the International Insurance Society 42nd Annual Seminar in Chicago identified natural catastrophes--over pandemics, geopolitical instabilities, terrorism and man-made catastrophes--as the biggest threat to the future of the insurance industry.The question was posed to the more-than-100 attendees of the July 19, 2006 CEO Panel V: Catastrophic Risk and Insurability: Can the industry cope? Edward Liddy, chairman and CEO of Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate USA and Pierre Ozendo, head of Americas Property & Casualty, Swiss Reinsurance America Corp. USA, Armonk, N.Y., spoke to the attendees on the subject.