Guidewire estimates the fast-growing cyber insurance market is now worth $5bn.

In the last year, the cyber market has grown around 25% - and Guidewire Cyence chief technology office George Ng predicts further growth.

Guidewire is in a strong position to give a market overview of cyber as its data-rich Cyence product is rapidly being taken up by cyber insurers.

Ng said: “You cannot have that kind of growth without coming from a smaller basis. It is one of the few lines that is growing.”

Cyence in action 

Cyence works by amassing data from a vast array of sources and then piping it through to insurers in an easy to understand format.

Insurers use Cyence to build and grow their cyber propositions as it fortifies underwriting, pricing, risk analysis and market understanding.

Another example of how Cyence works, is that can help validate important client information to insurer on things such as encryption and whether their IT systems are properly up-to-date from weaknesses.

Cyence was especially strong at providing data to help understand the risks around use of external servers.

Ng said that increasingly corporates are using cloud technology, with Amazon now estimated to have around 40% of the corporate cloud market.

Understanding the risks in this part of the cyber market is very important because cloud is so embedded in firms’ IT architecture. 

Guidewire paid $265m for Cyence in 2017. It currently has major clients such as Marsh and Beazley.

Ng said around half the customer base came from the Lloyd’s and London market, which write a large proportion of US risks.

Ng said: “We have seen in the last couple of years that there have been a lot of acquisitions, including Lloyd’s syndicates.”

Elsewhere in Guidewire, Ng said the company was working hard on providing data and analytics solutions to insurer partners.

“In small commercial, it’s a question of how we make it more frictionless,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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