State insurance commissioners continue to try to cement their role in cybersecurity issues by setting in moving several additional initiatives to protect consumer information and educate the public.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) said its Cybersecurity Task Force has released a draft of a Consumer Cybersecurity Bill of Rights for public comment.
Additionally, the task force is leading a coordinated effort with state insurance commissioners to make sure companies are appropriately protecting data such as confidential personal data, said the NAIC. The organization also said it is co-sponsoring a program with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in September to discuss cyber risks faced by businesses and consumers.
“Ramping up our efforts in this critical area will help state insurance departments better address both the threat and responses to cyber breaches,” said Monica J. Lindeen, NAIC president and Montana Insurance Commissioner, in a statement. “Understanding what regulators, consumers and companies can do to craft best practices will help minimize the impact on insurance consumers and the insurance industry in the long-term.”
Earlier this year the NAIC, which launched its Cybersecurity Task Force last November, drafted and adopted cybersecurity principlesfor all insurers to follow.
Regulators tell insurance consumers in the Cybersecurity Bill of Rights to expect carriers to protect their personally identifiable information and, if the information was, “or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person” to expect notification “without reasonable delay” in no later than 60 days following the discovery of the breach.
However, notification may be delayed if “the release of the breach information obstructs a criminal investigation or jeopardizes national security.”
The same notification requirements are outlined for a breach involving personal financial information.
Consumers can also expect, according to the document, to get two years of identity-theft protection from the insurer.
Chad Hemenway is Managing Editor of Advisen News. He has more than 15 years of journalist experience at a variety of online, daily, and weekly publications. He has covered P&C insurance news since 2007, and he has experience writing about all P&C lines as well as regulation and litigation. Chad won a Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Single Article in 2014 for his coverage of the insurance implications of traumatic brain injuries and Best News Coverage in 2013 for coverage of Superstorm Sandy. Contact Chad at 212.897.4824 or [email protected].
