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Our world is increasingly dependent on technology, so when a cyberattack strikes, it’s not just a computer problem. A cyberattack can disrupt operations, damage reputations and result in regulatory fines. The problem is getting worse, too.
COVID-19’s Impact on Cybercrime
According to Europol’s Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment 2020, COVID-19 has contributed to an increase in cybercrime as cybercriminals take advantage of the remote work situation. Some key points from the report include the following:
- Ransomware attacks now often include the threat to publish sensitive data. At the same time, many of these attacks are targeting supply chains and third-party service providers.
- Cybercriminals are using social engineering and phishing to facilitate other cybercrimes.
- Business email compromise (BEC) attacks are increasing. In these schemes, cybercriminals often impersonate a CEO to request a bank transfer or a supplier to redirect payments.
Data Breaches and the GDPR
Many cyberattacks involve data breaches, and with the development of ransomware attacks that include a threat to release sensitive data, this threat is growing.
Organizations that maintain personal data must comply with regulations that cover data security. In Europe, the most notable of such regulations is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Under the GDPR, organizations are required to take appropriate technical and organizational measures, such as encryption, to keep personal data secure. If a data breach does occur, proper notification is required.
Organizations that fail to comply with the GDPR may face large fines as a result.
- An online voter consultation platform in Italy was fined €50,000 for failing to take the steps necessary to protect data from attackers.
- In the first 20 month after the GDPR went into effect, hundreds of companies were fined a total of more than €114 million.
- Despite the risk of fines, a survey found that many business leaders still appear confused about basic data security concepts.
Take Steps to Protect Your Company
Cybercriminals are constantly changing their attacks to make them more effective, so organizations need to be equally dedicated to improving their defense.
- Conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment to determine your organization’s risks and how they can be minimized.
- Develop secure policies and procedures for telework arrangements. All work should be performed on secure equipment and networks, whether it’s done in the office or in an employee’s home. Basic security measures include the use of up-to-date operating systems, encryption and anti-virus software.
- Everyone should be involved in cybersecurity. Provide all workers with cybersecurity reminders and checklists. For example, all workers should know how to avoid malware by being careful about which programs they download, which websites they visit and which links they click. They should also know how to keep accounts protected with strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and how to watch out for emails and text messages that come from fraudsters posing as legitimate contacts.
Finally, it’s important to be sure that you are properly insured for cyber liability risks. Costero specialise in both Commercial and Personal Cyber but we must be accessed via a local licensed insurance broker Details on how to reach a representative from Costero can be found at costerobrokers.com/our-services/#cyber-product.
Petaluma, California – October 7, 2020. Tangram Insurance Services, Inc. (“Tangram”), a Managing General Agency, and Costero Brokers, Ltd. (“Costero”), an independent London broker, today announced a partnership with Brit Syndicate at Lloyds (“BRIT”) to provide Kidnap & Ransom and Personal Accident coverage through an exclusive facility.
The facility is accessible to all Tangram appointed retail brokers in the US, providing up to $50m in Kidnap & Ransom Coverage and up to $2.5m per person in Personal Accident & Illness. The coverages include Extortion, Unlawful Detention, Hijack, Disappearance, Hostage Crisis and Threat Response. Additionally, the facility can provide up to $250k in cyber extortion limit, covering extortion incidents from a computer attack, network disruption and restoration of data costs. It also provides coverage for related cyber incident response costs, business interruption expenses and legal costs.
“We are excited to partner with our colleagues at Costero to offer BRIT’s comprehensive Crisis Perils coverage. BRIT is a market leader and we are thrilled to add them to our stable of trusted carrier partners. We are hopeful that the additional coverages provided, especially the cyber portion, which is not readily available from other markets, will be a sought-after solution for our partners,” said Tracy Bernard, Tangram’s SVP, Head of Program Development.
Bruno Schuoler of BRIT noted, “We are delighted to partner with Costero and Tangram on a facility that we believe can be catered for a broad range of client needs. We are thankful that Costero have selected BRIT as an insurer with the knowledge and experience in a lead capacity, to provide access to underwriting expertise in this specialized field of insurance.”
About Tangram Insurance Services, Inc.
Tangram Insurance Services, Inc. is a national program manager bringing in-depth expertise and specialized program capabilities to a variety of industries. With over two decades of experience, Tangram partners with the top insurance companies to deliver niche insurance solutions. For more information, please visit www.tangramins.com.
About Costero Brokers Ltd.
Costero Brokers Ltd., formed in 2017, initially focused on property and professional lines. Costero Brokers Ltd. is now a multi-class focused Lloyd’s of London broker and is looking to expand into additional specialist areas with the hiring of individuals and teams. For more information, visit costerobrokers.com.
London, UK – September 30, 2020. Costero Brokers Ltd. (“Costero”), a privately held London-based brokerage, which recently acquired Prospect Insurance Brokers, announced a new partnership with New Zealand-headquartered insurance business Delta Insurance Group. This partnership will allow Costero to market and distribute Delta’s Personal Cyber Insurance product ‘PerCy’ outside of Asia-Pacific initially focusing on the UK and Europe.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the world to revise traditional working habits and now the majority of employees are either working from home or remote working. This has led to a vastly increased amount of crucial data being saved and stored on home devices which needs protecting,” commented Jamie Webb, Executive Vice President of Costero. “It is asking questions of gaps in commercial and personal lines cyber policies like never before and PerCy helps solve those issues. According to cyber security company InPhySec, globally, ‘around 64% workers are now remote, a 148% increase with the pandemic, and there’s been an almost 100% increase in the personal use of managed devices.’”
Amongst offering clients market leading Risk Management including a unique personal risk-assessment and monitoring tool supported by DynaRisk, Percy also offers broad protection for individuals against cyber-risks such as ransomware and data loss.
Ian Pollard of Delta says the agreement with Costero marks another step forward in Delta’s alliance with the specialist UK brokerage. “We’ve been working closely with Prospect [now Costero] for some years and a number of our niche insurance products, such as our Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Drones insurance, have arisen from our association with the company, while Costero has also played a significant role more recently in helping us develop PerCy.”
Costero Executive Vice President, Jamie Webb, says the agreement cements a strong collaborative relationship between the two businesses. “Delta and Costero have a very similar view of the insurance world and a shared desire to make great products for the times. We look forward to expanding PerCy in our European markets so that people can actively reduce their exposure to the recent, dramatic increase in cyber-crime.”
Pollard says PerCy provides a one-stop solution, accessed through an integrated customer portal supported by NZ-based Insurtech company Sentro, that also enables clients to access a unique personal risk-assessment and monitoring tool supported by DynaRisk, and general insurance policy administration. PerCy is now available in New Zealand, Asia Pacific, UK and Europe.
About Costero Brokers Ltd.
Costero Brokers Ltd., formed in 2017, initially launched with a real estate program, providing a property line-slip for habitational and commercial real estate. Costero Brokers Ltd. is now offering cyber, professional and financial lines and is looking to expand into additional specialist areas with the hiring of individuals and teams. Costero Brokers Ltd. is a Lloyd’s broker. Lloyd’s is the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance marketplace.
For more information, visit costerobrokers.com.
Nick Murrell, Executive Vice President
Costero Brokers Ltd.
tel. +44 (0)207 337 6561
nick.murrell@costerobrokers.com
Jamie Webb, Executive Vice President
Costero Brokers Ltd.
tel +44 (0)20 8051 5150
[vc_row wrap_container=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1590759667237{background: #eef4f2 url(https://costerobrokers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Prospect_Full-logo_white-1.png) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1598455430163{padding-top: 2vh !important;}”]Costero Brokers Ltd., a privately held London-based brokerage, has acquired Prospect Insurance Brokers effective August 1, 2020. Executives Nick Murrell and Jamie Webb will be running the organization.
Founded in 2010, Prospect Insurance Brokers is an independent insurance and reinsurance Lloyd’s of London broker specializing in binding authority, reinsurance and alternative risk transfer business placed into Lloyd’s of London, European, and international company markets. Their recent work in cyber, cryptocurrency, gig economy, drones and parametric structures resulted in a nomination for Broker innovation award.
‘‘We are very excited to be a part of the Heffernan and Costero family. The decision was easy as we are culturally aligned as an independent, family-owned business with a strong focus on innovation and attracting the best talent in the market,” said Jamie Webb, Executive Vice President of Prospect Insurance Brokers. “In addition, we are delighted to benefit from the West Coast super-regional retail presence Heffernan brings, the wholesale distribution, and the MGA distribution through Tangram within the group giving us a full array of distribution possibilities.”
Costero Brokers Ltd. opened its doors October 2017 and now has several individual investors; including United States-based Heffernan Insurance Brokers. John Tallarida, investor and Executive Vice President of Heffernan Insurance Brokers, added, “We are firmly committed to our goal of building an independent Lloyd’s broker and Prospect fits perfectly into that plan. The organization brings important capabilities and excellent talent to complement our Costero team.”
Nick Murrell, Executive Vice President of Costero Brokers, remarked, “It is fantastic to see Costero Brokers expanding with the purchase/merger of Prospect, to be part of the new initiatives going forward, and to be working collaboratively to create innovative solutions for clients in what is an ever changing and challenging insurance market. The entity combines an experienced team of market professionals in multi-lines at a time of mega broker consolidation and we will be there to offer the individual service clients are now seeking globally as we come together into one specialist business.”
Costero plans to further expand with acquisitions and hiring of additional individuals and teams. For more information, contact:
Nick Murrell, Executive Vice President
Phone: +44 (0)207 337 6561
nick.murrell@costerobrokers.com
Jamie Webb, Executive Vice President
Phone: +44 (0)20 8051 5150
jwebb@prospectbrokers.com
About Costero Brokers Ltd.
Costero Brokers Ltd., formed in 2017, initially launched with a real estate program, providing a property line-slip for habitational and commercial real estate. Costero Brokers Ltd. is now offering cyber, professional and financial lines and is looking to expand into additional specialist areas with the hiring of individuals and teams. Costero Brokers Ltd. is a Lloyd’s broker. Lloyd’s is the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance marketplace.
For more information, visit costerobrokers.com.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][porto_ultimate_content_box box_border_style=”solid” border=”5″ box_border_color=”#1cbbb4″ bg_clr=”#ffffff” box_shadow=”horizontal:px|vertical:px|blur:px|spread:px|style:none|” hover_box_shadow=”horizontal:px|vertical:px|blur:px|spread:px|style:inherit|” css_contentbox=”.vc_custom_1599217319696{margin-top: 25px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”1134″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”439″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” label=”” css=”.vc_custom_1599217780996{padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 5vh !important;padding-left: 5vh !important;}”][/porto_ultimate_content_box][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row wrap_container=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1590759667237{background: #eef4f2 url(https://costerobrokers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Prospect_Full-logo_white-1.png) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1598455539445{padding-top: 2vh !important;}”]Over the past few months, you may have noticed our new Prospect Brand.
We are thrilled with our new look, and are excited to welcome you to the next stage in our re-branding journey, the Prospect website.
With the new website, we aim to provide you, our visitors, with a fresh, easy to navigate, dynamic way to discover Prospect’s services and solutions, and bring you closer to our people and our brand.
On our new site, you’ll be able to find our areas of expertise, our history, curated news articles and blog posts that will be constantly updated, and plenty of opportunities to share this information on social media.
Most importantly we love to hear from you, either with new ideas and opportunities, or to give us feedback about something we could be doing better, and so we have made it as easy as possible to get in touch. Please don’t be a stranger!
As we are insurance experts, and not website development experts, none of this would have been possible without our web developers, Hogtronix, who have been outstanding partners throughout the process. If you are going through this same process, we would highly recommend you drop them a line on hello@hogtronix.com or call on 01840 537227.
We truly hope that our new website exemplifies our desire to always deliver outstanding service and customer experience, and are excited to share further news and updates with you as we progress through our re-brand journey.
Sincerely,
Jamie Webb & the Prospect Team[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row wrap_container=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1595500464217{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;background: #eef4f2 url(https://costerobrokers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Prospect_Full-logo_white-1.png) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1598455573373{padding-top: 2vh !important;}”]
Prospect are delighted congratulate James Gadbury on his nomination for the Insurance insider’s “Young Broker of the Year” Award! (We are also very proud that Prospect was the only independent broker to earn a nomination!).
Over the course of his career at Prospect, James has built an outstanding reputation in the Lloyd’s and London, A&H, Med-Mal and Drone markets in particular. He has also been instrumental in the development of new products, in particular, the first-of-its-kind Crypto-Currency Hot Wallet product launched earlier this year, which was produced in collaboration with the Lloyd’s Product Innovation Facility.
If you would like to get in touch with James to discuss any of these products (or something new), or just to wish him well, his contact details are:
Email: jgadbury@prospectbrokers.com
Mobile: +44 (0) 7714 772 503
We eagerly await the awards ceremony on the 17th of September and will be rooting for James all the way.
Quote from Prospect CEO, Jamie Webb: “James thoroughly deserves this award, and we are thrilled for him. He epitomises everything we look to achieve – must achieve – in order to succeed as an independent Lloyd’s Broker: close client relationships based on trust and outstanding service delivery, as well as creative problem solving and exceptional expertise in our niche specialisms. We wish James all the best and are behind him all the way!”
Jamie Webb & The Prospect Team[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row wrap_container=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1590759667237{background: #eef4f2 url(https://costerobrokers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Prospect_Full-logo_white-1.png) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1598455522731{padding-top: 2vh !important;}”]Prospect is proud to announce the launch of PerCy, the first Personal Cyber insurance product available in the UK. PerCy will be able to provide your customers/employees/members and their families with peace of mind by reducing their exposure to a cyber-attack.
PerCy is designed to:
• Protect Personal devices
• Protect Personal identity information
• Protect Personal financial information and wealth
• Provide a FREE Personal Cyber Risk Assessment
PerCy Provides Cover against these threats:
Identity Theft – we cover professional and personal expenses and provide credit monitoring, in the event that personal information is stolen.
Data Recovery – we cover the costs to restore personal information or digital assets, In the event personal data, photos and other digital media is lost.
Mobile Banking Protection – we cover the value of funds lost via mobile devices, in the event that an unauthorised transaction is detected on a personal banking or mobile payment app following the theft of the mobile device.
Home Device Attack Protection – we cover the costs to repair or replace computer hardware including smart appliances, in the event a smart home falls victim to a cyber attack.
Network Extortion Protection – we cover expenses and ransom cost, in the event someone holds personal data for ransom.
If you’re interested in becoming a distribution partner, get in touch with our Cyber Broking Team:
• Jamie Webb, Manging Director
Email: jwebb@prospectbrokers.com
Direct: 020 8051 5150
• James Gadbury, Divisional Director
Email: jgadbury@prospectbrokers.com
Direct: 020 8051 5174
• James Forbes, Senior Broker
Email: jforbes@prospectbrokers.com
Direct: 020 8051 5165
• Harry Venables, Broker /Analyst
Email: hvenables@prospectbrokers.com
Direct: 020 8051 5161[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]