Latest news with #cyberinsurance
Finextra
18 hours ago
- Business
- Finextra
Zurich expands Cowbell collaboration
Cowbell, a leading provider of cyber insurance for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and middle-market businesses, today announced a major expansion of its product portfolio to include a comprehensive multi-line insurance offering from Zurich North America (Zurich) within the United States. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Building on its established success in Cyber and Technology Errors & Omissions (Tech E&O), Cowbell has collaborated with Zurich to offer Zurich Select Plus through the E&S distribution channel for small to medium-sized private businesses. Zurich Select Plus is a co-branded modular suite of four coverages: Directors & Officers (D&O), Employment Practices Liability (EPL), Crime, and Fiduciary insurance. With this launch, Cowbell now offers cyber, technology errors and omissions, and management liability coverage through both a fully integrated API and a proprietary agentic email automation platform. The move mirrors Cowbell's recent diversification in the UK, where it introduced professional indemnity insurance tailored for technology providers. Together, these initiatives reflect the company's vision to scale its tech-enabled platform globally and deliver intelligent insurance solutions to businesses wherever they operate. 'In cyber insurance, we've earned a reputation for underwriting discipline, broad distribution, and a user-friendly experience,' said Jack Kudale, Founder and CEO of Cowbell. 'Cyber remains one of the most complex risks facing businesses today. By leveraging our first-of-its-kind, vertically integrated, AI-powered platform and proprietary risk modeling, we've simplified the process, enabling faster, more streamlined transactions for our broker partners. Now, we've aligned with Zurich to bring innovation to additional lines of coverage, further advancing our mission to provide comprehensive, tech-forward insurance to the global SME and middle-market segment.' The launch of Zurich Select Plus follows Cowbell's announcement, nearly a year ago, that it had secured a $60 million Series C investment led by Zurich Insurance Group. 'At the one-year mark of Zurich's investment in Cowbell, we are pleased to offer our industry-leading Zurich Select Plus product for D&O, EPL, Fiduciary, and Crime coverages. Through Cowbell's digital platform, the Zurich Cowbell collaboration and relationship can provide bindable quotes within seconds of receiving the required underwriting information,' said Kristof Terryn, CEO of Zurich North America. 'This growing alliance is just one of many ways Zurich is a transformative risk advisor and manager for businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises.' At the heart of this evolution is Cowbell's agentic email automation platform, representing a seismic shift in submission processing. Using large language model (LLM) agents, the platform automates submission workflows by extracting, enriching, and validating data from emails, attachments, and images. Cowbell's cyber, management, and professional liability programs are available to select agents and brokers in the United States.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cowbell integrates Zurich's multi-line insurance offering for SMEs
Cowbell, a provider of cyber insurance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has expanded its insurance portfolio in the US by including a multi-line insurance offering from Zurich North America. The new offering, Zurich Select Plus, is a suite of four coverages designed for small to medium-sized private businesses. The coverage includes directors and officers (D&O), employment practices liability (EPL), crime and fiduciary insurance. Cowbell said the collaboration builds on its established presence in the cyber and technology errors and omissions insurance market. Zurich Select Plus will be distributed through the excess and surplus (E&S) lines channel and is co-branded. Additionally, Cowbell now provides management liability coverage. Cowbell founder and CEO Jack Kudale said: 'By leveraging our first-of-its-kind, vertically integrated, AI-powered platform and proprietary risk modelling, we have simplified the process, enabling faster, more streamlined transactions for our broker partners. 'Now, we have aligned with Zurich to bring innovation to additional lines of coverage, further advancing our mission to provide comprehensive, tech-forward insurance to the global SME and middle-market segment.' The company employs both a fully integrated API and a proprietary agentic email automation platform to facilitate insurance processing. This latter platform uses large language model agents to automate the extraction and validation of data from submissions, including content from emails, attachments and images. Last year, Cowbell secured $60m (SFr47.84m) in Series C funding from Zurich Insurance Group. Zurich North America CEO Kristof Terryn stated: 'At the one-year mark of Zurich's investment in Cowbell, we are pleased to offer our industry-leading Zurich Select Plus product for D&O, EPL, fiduciary and crime coverages. 'Through Cowbell's digital platform, the Zurich Cowbell collaboration and relationship can provide bindable quotes within seconds of receiving the required underwriting information.' In April, Cowbell launched Prime One Tech in the UK, a professional indemnity and cyber insurance solution for technology companies with annual revenues of up to £1bn ($1.37bn). The product offers professional indemnity and cyber coverage with limits of up to £5m. Prime One Tech integrates the company's Prime One cyber programme, offering professional indemnity coverage for tech entities. "Cowbell integrates Zurich's multi-line insurance offering for SMEs " was originally created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Deals of the day
June 24 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday: ** The RiskPoint Group has agreed to acquire Corvus Underwriting GmbH in Frankfurt from Travelers, with the European managing general underwriter looking to expand in German cyber insurance. ** Spirit Airlines urged the Transportation Department to reject a proposed JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O), opens new tab and United Airlines (UAL.O), opens new tab partnership, saying it was anticompetitive and will prompt large carriers to pursue similar deals. read more ** Private equity firms Apax Partners, EQT ( opens new tab, and Hellman & Friedman are among the firms considering offers for the Spanish business of the online classifieds group Adevinta, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. ** Spain's BBVA ( opens new tab will not be allowed to integrate its operations with Sabadell ( opens new tab for at least three years as one of the conditions imposed by the Spanish government on its hostile bid for its smaller rival in a potential blow to the suitor's expansion plans. read more ** The European Central Bank has cleared Monte dei Paschi di Siena's proposed acquisition of rival Mediobanca a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, as a raft of takeover bids reshapes Italian finance. read more ** Volvo Group said it would sell its 70% stake in China's Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Co (SDLG) and buy its European construction equipment supplier Swecon as it looks to refocus on core brands. read more ** Italian utility ACEA has approved a binding offer from Eni's retail and renewables business Plenitude to acquire its energy retail arm ACEA Energia in a deal worth 588.5 million euros ($682 million), it said. read more ** South Korean game company Krafton Inc < opens new tab> said it had agreed to buy Japan's advertising and animation group ADK for 75 billion yen ($516.21 million). read more ** Ohio Farmers Insurance Company, the parent company of Westfield, has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Westfield Bancorp to First Financial Bancorp in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $325 million.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FC Barcelona's data compromised in ransomware attack on insurer
GlobalData's survey reveals that more than a quarter of SMEs are purchasing cyber insurance in response to media coverage of cyberattacks. In the past year alone, over 300 organisations have fallen victim to the ransomware group Qilin targeting sensitive information. According to GlobalData's UK SME Insurance Survey 2025, 26.2% of SMEs cited media reports about cyberattacks as their reason for acquiring cyber insurance, while 19.3% indicated that a competitor's victimisation influenced their decision. This trend highlights increasing concerns and awareness regarding the risks posed by cyberattacks within the industry, particularly in areas such as data security, where advancements in AI could be leveraged to create more sophisticated threats. Asefa, the Madrid-based subsidiary of French insurer SMABTP, is the latest organisation to be targeted by the ransomware group Qilin, which claims to have extracted over 200GB of sensitive data from the company. The escalating threat and the rise of similar groups necessitate proactive measures from organisations to enhance their cybersecurity protocols. Among the 200GB+ of data compromised by Qilin was information related to the prominent Spanish football club FC Barcelona. The leak of documents concerning the club could lead to significant reputational damage for Asefa, given the high-profile nature of the client. This situation underscores the urgent need for companies to evaluate their risk exposure and reassess their cyber insurance coverage. The Asefa cyberattack underscores the necessity for enhanced cyber resilience in light of the rise of ransomware groups such as Qilin and the use of AI in cyberattacks. As prominent breaches increase awareness among SMEs, insurers have a chance to offer customised cyber solutions and proactive assistance to tackle these challenges. "FC Barcelona's data compromised in ransomware attack on insurer" was originally created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Best's Market Segment Report: 2024 Pricing Cuts in U.S. Cyber Generated First-Ever Reduction in Direct Premiums Written
OLDWICK, N.J., June 23, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Premiums generated from cyber insurance coverage declined by 2.3% to slightly less than $7.1 billion in 2024 compared with a year earlier, marking the first ever decrease in the segment since the data was first collected in 2015, according to a new AM Best report. Despite the drop in premium, the loss ratio for the U.S. cyber segment remained below the 50% mark in 2024, suggesting that the line of coverage is still profitable for those who choose to underwrite the risk. According to the report, the decrease in premiums is driven more by pricing changes than any changes in exposure. "When premium grew during the hard market cycle, the growth significantly outpaced the pricing increases, indicating that demand for cyber insurance was increasing as well," said Christopher Graham, senior industry analyst, AM Best. "Considering that the premium decrease is close to the pricing decrease, that would indicate that the demand for cyber insurance is steady." However, the report also notes that some large organizations may be shifting their cyber exposure to their own single-parent captive insurers. Such organizations that have a favorable loss experience find it beneficial to maintain the premium under the parent company's structure and typically don't file the related cyber data reports with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Among the report's other highlights: Much of the new capacity during the hard market came from surplus lines writers. Those carriers have held—and marginally increased—their market share even as the total premium slightly contracted; Surplus lines paper remains the prime spot for complicated cyber risks, and this is evident through the split among primary, excess, and endorsement coverage. While surplus lines writers benefited from the hard market pricing of 2020-2022, that benefit seems to have now worn off. When new writers enter the market during a hard market cycle, those writers get the benefit of the stronger pricing without having to pay the legacy losses. AM Best has maintained a stable outlook on the global cyber insurance segment, citing a cautious level of underwriting in a dynamic risk environment. To access the full copy of the Best's Market Segment Report on U.S. cyber insurance, please visit AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on Contacts Christopher Graham Senior Industry Analyst +1 908 882 1807 Fred Eslami Associate Director +1 908 882 1759 Christopher Sharkey Associate Director, Public Relations +1 908 882 2310 Al Slavin Senior Public Relations Specialist +1 908 882 2318
