LIU, CloudInsure Address Cloud Data Risks

The insurance industry has a new industry to target. Or rather, a segment of the larger IT industry. CloudInsure, which provides a cloud insurance platform intended to address emerging privacy and security risk related to the cloud environment, has partnered with Liberty International Underwriters (LIU) to provide customers with an insurance offering designed with cloud computing technology risks in mind.

Although there has been evidence to suggest organizations and individuals are more likely to trust cloud technologies than they were even just a couple of years ago, LIU and CloudInsure have a different take.

"Cloud computing offers significant benefits in cost savings, scalability and performance, but as underwriters, we have to be very alert to the dynamic risks that accompany it because both the law and technologies are changing rapidly," said Oliver Brew, vice president in LIU's Technology and Privacy Practice.

The insurance offering that LIU and CloudInsure have come up with seems in essence a CYA policy for for cloud providers. As Brew noted in the announcement, the "goal is to help providers of technology services protect themselves if their systems fail to deliver as promised, and protect owners of personal data if private information is unintentionally released."

Exactly what that means is beyond me. It's insurance, so presumably it's some kind of financial compensation should cloud providers find themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit or claim.

The joint insurance offering provides CloudInsure customers with access to insurance protection for the data being stored in the cloud. It gives policy holders access to a consultant to access pre- and post-loss support services, including pre-loss risk management, post-loss computer forensics, credit monitoring and restoration, data breach notification services and legal advice.