Insurance professionals are expected to know everything about insurance. We are the “masters of our insurance domain” if you will. We are the ones that “educate” and explain the insurance terminology to customers, ask the right questions that determine the risk levels and consequently the premiums, and then communicate the terms of the policies to the client. The better we do this, the more trust and credibility we earn. But when it comes to cyber insurance – where industry-specific, cyber training providers are scarce – the roles seem to have switched. I hear many insurance professionals that feel a sense of inferiority to their clients when in the cyber realm. After all, it’s more than likely that the client’s technical staff knows much more than the insurance professionals about this domain. 

But is this “cyber insurance phobia” justified? Why can insurance professionals sell medical insurance without being doctors, or insurance against break-ins without being security experts, yet when it comes to “cyber insurance” they feel inadequate? 

Insurance Professionals lack basic technical knowledge

The answer is that insurance professionals lack the basic technical knowledge needed to carry out an intelligent conversation with clients about cyber insurance. They don’t need to come off as cyber security specialists, but they do need to know all the relevant terminology and have a deeper understanding of the insurance aspects concerning cyber insurance. This includes knowing about the cyber risks, understanding their roles concerning claims and incident response, risk management, regulatory compliance, and much more. 

Cyber Insurance Knowledge Needed For Each Role

Insurance professionals are not all the same, they have different roles, and each role requires different knowledge and different tools. Here are a few examples: 

• Brokers – insurance brokers are the consultants that will make or break the cyber insurance deal. They must learn how to explain coverages, endorsements, exclusions, and the services provided by the insurance company. They need to be able to explain cyber threats, exposure, and security gaps, quantify risk and help choose the appropriate liability limits and deductibles. In addition, brokers need to be able to coordinate between different insurers to build a full policy. Cyber insurance brokers in today’s hardening market must keep their fingers on the pulse now more than ever.
• Underwriters – the underwriters need to learn how to perform cyber due diligence, analyze security exposures and risks, and assess the current security posture. They also need to be able to determine premium prices and capacity based on the insurer’s risk appetite as well as determine which of the requested coverages and endorsements will be included in the policy.
• Claims Professionals – When a cyber-attack occurs, the claims professionals are part of the response team. Their fast response, proper notification, and activation of the different roles along the response chain are crucial and can make a huge difference. Claims professionals need to be able to deeply understand the cyber insurance policy and its coverages. They must learn how to assess the incident and how it relates to the policy terms; learn how to appoint experts to assist in quantifying losses. They also evaluate damages to make claims’ payment decisions and make real-time decisions on payments for services on behalf of the insured.
• Risk Managers – Risk managers need to identify and analyze the financial impact of cyber threats in order to prepare risk management and insurance budgets. They must be able to quantify risk and help choose the appropriate liability limits and deductibles.  

Cyber Insurance Courses can Patch the Problem

Today, cyber threats are affecting all aspects of life, whether it’s in our connected cars, smart homes, computers or telephones. This means that all insurance professionals, whether they are directly dealing with cyber insurance or not, need to learn the basics of cyber insurance. They need to at least know the terms, understand the risks, and be able to speak the basic language. Cyber insurance professionals, on the other hand, develop deeper expertise in cyber insurance to carry out their roles. 

Luckily, this knowledge gap can be filled without the need for endless internal training sessions that can take up valuable time during the day. Instead, the Cyber Insurance Academy, offers a comprehensive course that covers both the basic technical knowledge training as well as in-depth cyber insurance knowledge. Best of all, the course is completely online and asynchronous, so everyone can learn at their own pace. 

Interested to learn more about the latest developments in cyber insurance? Visit our course catalog for more information on our cyber insurance training.