ACORD, the insurance and reinsurance industry data standards body, has collaborated with Aon and Beazley on the development of the ACORD Cyber Data Breach Standard, a new standard that aims to increase operational efficiency across the global re/insurance value chain.
According to a 2017 ACORD survey, nearly 60% of re/insurers consider lack of uniform data standards and forms to be a major obstacle to the growth of cyber insurance policies.
As demand for cyber coverage continues to increase, there is a growing need for streamlined, standardised cyber risk data exchange, according to ACORD.
Bill Pieroni, President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ACORD, said: “ACORD has been at the forefront of cyber standards since we created the standard to capture cyber exposure in 2015.
“This expanded standard supports the evolution of cyber coverage and data breach events. We would like to thank Aon and Beazley, whose contributions greatly accelerated the development and increased the quality of this global standard.”
The existing ACORD Data Standards are designed to facilitate fast, accurate data exchange among stakeholders in multiple lines of business across the insurance value chain, such as carriers, agents, brokers, and software providers.
With the new Cyber Data Breach Standard, which the parties claim is an industry first, ACORD will provide a baseline for compliance and audit-related activities, which will increase operational efficiency for cyber risk stakeholders and allow solutions providers to leverage standards for increased support.
Christian Hoffman, President, U.S. Cyber Solutions at Aon said: “This question set will help organizations approach cyber risk in a united manner. Connectivity and collaboration across organizations including, but not limited to, information security, legal and risk management is critical. A set of uniform standards is an ideal place to start this transition.”
As key stakeholders in the cyber market, Aon and Beazley contributed insights and various industry assets to the project, examining challenges related to data breach and manual, disparate practices for sharing information during risk assessment and policy workflow.
Paul Bantick, UK Technology, Media & Business Services Focus Group Leader for Beazley, said: ”Beazley has been underwriting cyber for more than a decade. We work with companies ranging in size from small businesses to the Fortune 500. We are delighted to have been a part of this process and offer our expert advice.”
The Cyber Data Breach Standard will be made immediately available to ACORD member for review and feedback, after which it will be included in the next release of the ACORD Property & Casualty Standards.
“Data breach is just one example of the many cyber exposures which require fast and accurate information exchange between parties,” added Pieroni. “ACORD will continue to welcome contributions like this from industry leaders, which will expand the portfolio of our cyber standards for the benefit of the entire insurance industry.”
