Cyber Risk Award Champions – Where they at?

Advisen on June 6 will host the 5th annual Cyber Risk Awards in New York, and once again we’ll be honoring another Cyber Risk Champion of the Year.

This award is slightly different than the others doled out. The popular vote has nothing to do with it. The Cyber Risk Champion is recognized by Advisen’s media division after careful, draining consideration.

You should see our meeting-room walls as we mull potential candidates. Think the garage scene in A Beautiful Mind.

Who will it be this year? The anticipation is building.

Oh, you won’t get the answer here today. You will get an update on the past recipients of this prestigious award: Rick Bortnick, Ben Beeson and Meredith Schnur.

The good news is, each have not let us down.

Bortnick continues at law firm Traub Lieberman Straus and Shrewsberry, where he litigates and counsels US and international clients on cyber and technology risks. Bortnick said he is surveying the cyber landscape, associated coverage and breach response. Clients, particularly in London, rely on Bortnick for perspective on US litigation to assess how the London marketplace could be impacted.

We certainly have heard the phrase “silent cyber” a lot lately and Bortnick has eyes on this as well—to unveil how policyholders might argue there is cyber coverage within contracts not directly intended to provide coverage.

Beeson is laying low. Yeah, I couldn’t even type that with a straight face. He is not. But the company he now works for, start-up Arceo Analytics, remains in stealth mode. When I spoke to Beeson in October he was excited at the opportunity to have a role in aligning technology and insurance—not just on the response side of a cyber incident but pre-breach as well.

Schnur presumably has not unpacked her suitcase in a month. Formerly of Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Schnur is now a part of USI, which purchased Wells Fargo. The deal was closed late last year and since Schnur has been traveling to exotic places like Atlanta, San Francisco and Minneapolis to meet with USI senior leadership and professional lines teams as part of ongoing integration efforts.

Who among our cyber community can properly carry the torch bestowed upon you once Editor-In-Chief Rebecca Bole hands you the 2018 Cyber Risk Champion of the Year award in June? We do not take this decision lightly. This addition to your bio carries weight. So far, we’re batting 1.000 with our selections, I’d say.

While we are hard at work deciding this winner, our community should similarly be voting for the dozen or so other awards waiting to be won. Cast your votes right now!