Zurich North America Reports More than Doubling E-Commerce Policies Underwritten in 2002

Zurich North America Financial Enterprises, a unit of Zurich North America, reported that during 2002 it more than doubled the number of insurance policies it has underwritten to cover e-commerce risks.

The doubling of policies written highlights the growing vulnerability of U.S. companies to internet risks, despite greater awareness and use of technology-driven security measures.

“The fact that our business has more than doubled each year after launching our first E-Risk Protection Program in early 1999 underscores the pervasiveness of e-commerce exposures,” David O’Neill, vice president, e-commerce solutions at Zurich North America Financial Enterprises, said. “Any organization using the internet as a tool to communicate internally and externally, store, retrieve and provide information, and interact in any way with outside third parties has exposure. Minimizing this exposure requires a combination of focused operational, organizational and strategic risk management measures to keep computer systems safe.”

To help businesses better understand their e-commerce exposure, Zurich North America recently developed an interactive educational CD-ROM called “Are You Exposed.”

“We’ve already distributed over 5,000 of these CDs nationwide,” Tom Schields, senior vice president, marketing /communications, remarked. “It’s a highly effective way to teach businesses how to protect themselves in an internet-enabled world. Users learn through detailed scenarios about the full range of digital risk exposures and are quizzed to determine specific areas of vulnerability as well as identify recommended courses of action.”