Mosaic’s Drogin: Cyber is the group’s “fastest growing” line

Since its launch three years ago as an excess-only cyber carrier, Mosaic Insurance has successfully expanded globally into the primary cyber space, subsequently making it the fastest growing line out of the group’s specialty classes.

“We're up to 27 cyber underwriters, so really tremendous growth in the space. It's the fastest-growing line at Mosaic of the seven specialty lines we write,” David Drogin, head of US cyber at Mosaic told The Insurer TV.

A large line size given its capital structure enables Mosaic to offer relatively large limits, said Drogin. Another point of attraction is the insurer’s unique partnership with cybersecurity firm Safe Security.

“Using their technology we're able to get deeper insights into our potential insureds, help them strengthen their security, and in return make them a better risk,” said Drogin.

Safe Security is able to do both outside-in and inside-out scans for Mosaic’s insureds, making it unique in the space, said Drogin. That capability offers a better understanding of breach likelihood and expected financial impact. Drogan said the scans also give insurers insight into their security posture so firms can tailor the policies accordingly.

It also offers read-only application program interfaces (APIs) so clients can feel secure knowing the data can’t be altered. Drogin said the options put clients in charge.

“If the clients opt to share the data, we get greater insight, which can result in pricing discounts and more tailored coverage to their specific risk.”

Augmenting underwriting practices

As Drogin considers the cyber landscape unfolding this year and beyond, he expects telematics will be key to underwriting, aiding in accurate forensic investigations.

“When you're using a binary application that's asking a yes/no question, it's very hard to distinguish between someone who's [got] average, good or excellent controls,” said Drogin.

“By using telematics, we're getting real-time insight into an insured's network and really being able to benefit those that have made the significant investment and can distinguish between excellent controls and excellent investment, and rewarding them for that.”

With so much data involved, some regulatory concerns begin to emerge, Drogran noted.

“Businesses are ingesting a large amount of data – are they anonymising it? Are they getting appropriate approvals to use that data? Is there a bias and discrimination resulting from that?”

The ability to ingest large amounts of data and make it actionable is essential, but firms must also work to ensure they can distinguish between infringing and non-infringing data.

“Is there a potential misrepresentation claims there?… It's still very much on the cutting edge. But I think there's a lot of things that we need to be thinking about from an insurance perspective.”

Ultimately, the goal is to use the data to assess risk and augment underwriting practices in order to provide a nimble response in the case of an incident occurring.

Drogin’s 17-year career has included stints in management, underwriting and profit development, all of which helped to shape what he brings to his current role.

“At Mosaic, I've had the opportunity to lead North America and come up with bespoke products for industry verticals that are unique, and I think that's what really separates Mosaic: the ability to be entrepreneurial and tailor policies to the actual risk.”

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