AAIS recently attended the IRMI Agribusiness Conference (AgriCon), the premier event for insurance and risk management professionals specializing in the exposures and coverage needs of farms and agribusinesses. Among the many interesting and informative sessions, AAIS Product Development Specialist Hope King highlighted two topics particularly near and dear to AAIS and our Members.

Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid and can target both individuals and businesses. The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform shared that “in 2020, ransomware attacks on both public and private institutions in the U.S cost an estimated $19.5 billion. … in the first six months of 2021, financial institutions reported $590 million in ransomware-related transactions. Current trends indicate that ransomware transactions in 2021 alone will exceed the previous 10 years combined.”

Severe weather, especially wildfire and flood, is increasing across the United States. This is exacerbated by climate change with no reduction in sight. At the same time, cyber criminals, not limited by geography, can invade our homes and businesses from anywhere in the world. Insurers facing this triple threat to homeowners are keenly aware of the trends:

Cyber security is a pressing issue. With daily advancements in technology comes the need for a game of rapid catch-up in the security sector. Every day there are new products and solutions to help protect us from this growing threat. The challenge within the insurance industry is how to underwrite this constantly evolving risk.

The AAIS Pulse newsmagazine recently featured Robert Hartwig, Ph.D., CPCU, industry expert and insurance professor at University of South Carolina's Moore School of Business. He spoke with AAIS CEO Ed Kelly on a range of topics facing the industry including COVID-19, climate change, cyber risk, year-end financials, and much more.

In this edition of CEO Angles, AAIS President and CEO Ed Kelly speaks with Keith Wolfe, President of US Property & Casualty at Swiss Re and an AAIS board member, about lessons learned during the pandemic, the increasing value of data, the need to start looking at climate change, the troubling cyber risk trend, and the hot topic of social inflation.

During the height of the COVID pandemic, Berkley Re Solutions’ Jeff Cron joined AAIS for a an AAIS Pulse session looking at ‘Cyber Crime: The Online Home Invasion.’   "We’re all online more, seeing content, and clicking links to different articles, videos, and other forms of media. While the actual risk hasn’t changed, volume has magnified, with more scams and more screen time.”

Imagine this: You’re working from home, like many others during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your children are also home, remote learning. One of your kids falls prey to malware, infecting your entire network with a virus. Your at-home business’s website is shut down for eight hours. You sigh a breath of relief, thankful that your insurance will cover the costs… or does it?

With an increasing number of employees working from home, there has also been an alarming increase in personal and professional cybercrime exposure. At the September 2020 AAIS Pulse, AAIS Personal Lines Product Manager Linda Jancik hosted a panel of cyber-focused leaders, including CyberScout’s Eric Warbasse and Berkley Re Solutions’ Jeff Cron and Chris Ellis to discuss the rise of cyber threats, future predictions, and how carriers can protect their customers from emerging digital exposures.

As today’s families fall asleep at night, they rest assured that they are protected from home perils. When thinking about keeping our homes safe, many think of the standard home perils: fire, floods, and burglary. However, as we delve further into the age of technology, many people forget that their homes are susceptible to more than physical perils. Danger can lurk within their phones, computers, and other IoT devices.