A.M. BestTV: Analyst Discusses A.M. Best Rating Considerations on Cyber Liability

OLDWICK, N.J.--()--In this A.M.BestTV episode, A.M. Best Senior Financial Analyst Fred Eslami explains how the company continues to monitor and focus on insurers’ treatment of cyber liability exposures. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=cyber216 to view the entire program.

A recent Best’s Special Report, titled “A.M. Best’s View on Cyber-Security Issues and Insurance Companies,” states that while A.M. Best still considers natural catastrophe losses to be the primary threat to the financial strength and credit quality of property/casualty insurers, the increasing frequency and severity of cyber attacks and difficulty in measuring the risk pose a substantial threat to the insurance industry.

“In the next few years, there are going to be nearly 50 billion devices connected to the Internet; therefore, expectation is that frequency and severity are going to increase,” said Eslami. “With this realization, companies spent $70 billion in 2014 and $75 billion in 2015 to protect and address cyber risk,” continued Eslami.

Eslami said the challenges facing companies to increase their cyber protection include a lack of results-oriented data to support pricing and reserving, an evolving regulatory and legal environment and rapid transformation of legacy systems.

To access a copy of the special report, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=243994.

Recent episodes of A.M.BestTV include:

  • U.S. Economy on Growth Track Despite Near-Term Hiccup, Say A.M. Best Economists: Senior Economist Meg Mulry and Vice President James Gillard discuss their views on the 2016 global economic picture, particularly in the United States, and how insurers could be impacted in the year ahead: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=economy216.
  • U.S. Insurers’ Exposure to Real Estate Investment Changes: Senior Industry Research Analyst Jason Hopper discusses the previous and current roles that commercial real estate investments have within the portfolios of insurers: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=realestate216.
  • Insurers on Climate: It is Not an Easy Risk to Deal With: At the 2016 Investor Summit on Climate Risk held in New York, NY, insurance representatives said the industry needs to develop more products aimed at supporting energy that is efficient, resilient and renewable: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=unclimaterisk116.
  • California Insurance Commissioner Says Investments in Thermal Coal Don’t Make Sense: At the 2016 Investor Summit on Climate Risk in New York, NY, Dave Jones, insurance commissioner, California, called on insurers in his state to divest from thermal coal and report on their investments in carbon-based energy: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=jones116.

A.M.BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

A.M. Best is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2016 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Contacts

A.M. Best
Lee McDonald
Group Vice President, Publication and News Services
(908) 439-2200, ext. 5561
lee.mcdonald@ambest.com

Contacts

A.M. Best
Lee McDonald
Group Vice President, Publication and News Services
(908) 439-2200, ext. 5561
lee.mcdonald@ambest.com