A month down. The year is ticking away. And with the next Facebook, Google or Apple seemingly just around the corner, technology continues to be on many a mind in 2013.
In fact in a poll conducted on InsuranceJournal.com in January more than a third placed “Cyber Risk” as the top commercial lines area for which they would like to see property/casualty insurers develop better or new products in 2013.
“Cyber Risk” handily beat “Habitational,” followed by “Restaurants/Bars/Taverns” in the poll. After those the order of popularity was: “Green Commercial Property,” “Commercial Auto,” “Executive Liability,” “Other” and “Marine.”
Only weeks into the new year and new technology, and risk, was already being thrust upon us.
In mid-January Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook unveiled a search tool for people, photos, places and interests. The new graph search tool will appear at the top of the site, enabling, for example, Facebook members to search for local restaurants liked by their friends, or photos posted by contacts within a specific time frame, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The annual CES mega electronics show in Las Vegas wrapped up in the middle of the month and there was no shortage of new gadgets for people to get excited about.
One of the most talked about was Corning’s Willow Glass, a thin, bendable glass that could radically alter the smartphone and tablet market. Initially it will enable the development of more curved, or rounded gadgets, but I’m holding out for a smartphone you can carry in your pocket then fold out for a bigger, better web experience. Other concepts introduced at the show: Eye-tracking technology for computers, and a waterproof smart phone.
It’s a lot to chew on.
Insurance industry professionals chew on this: According to the Security Forum the top five security threats that businesses can expect to face in 2013 include cyber security, supply chain security, big data, data security in the cloud and mobile devices in the workplace. The last one may be of particular interest with all these new devices rapidly making inroads in to our lives.
Info Security magazine, which reported on the forum findings, writes that the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) phenomenon “will continue to keep security personnel up at night.” If not handled correctly, the article states, “a personal device strategy in the workplace could face accidental disclosures due to loss of boundary between work and personal data and more business information being held in unprotected manner on consumer devices.”
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