Google rolls out ‘first of its kind’ cyber insurance program for cloud customers

Source:-https://siliconangle.com

Google LLC has teamed up with two major insurers to develop a cybersecurity insurance offering that will provide Google Cloud customers who sign up with coverage against cyberattacks.

The offering, detailed today, is described by the search giant as the first of its kind from a leading cloud provider. On top of coverage against data breaches, it includes a risk analysis tool that will enable companies to find weak points in their cloud environments’ security.

The two insurers that have partnered with Google for the offering are Allianz SE’s corporate insurance unit, AGCS, and Munich Re Group. The search giant says that the firms will provide “specialized and enhanced cyber insurance designed exclusively for Google Cloud customers.” According to Google, the price of purchasing the insurance for customers will be directly tied to how well they secure their information technology environments.

The search giant has developed a tool called Risk Manager to go along with the offering. Risk Manager assesses the security of companies’ cloud environments to identify issues. After the evaluation is complete, the tool generates a report that customers can use to reduce their cloud deployments’ susceptibility to breaches and, in the process, optimize their insurance costs.

Another benefit Google promises is a simpler insurance application process. The reports Risk Manager generates are not only useful for internal use but can also be sent to AGCS and Munich Re Group, which use the data on customers’ cloud security posture to inform underwriting decisions. To Google Cloud customers, Risk Manager could offer a more convenient alternative to manually putting together risk reports for their cybersecurity insurance providers.

“Bringing the Risk Protection Program to market is possible due to our strong partnership with leading cyber insurers, Allianz and Munich Re, who collaborated with us to develop this groundbreaking program,” said Google Treasurer Juan Rajlin. “We believe the program provides our Google Cloud customers with both access to superior cyber protection, as well as a more efficient insurance procurement process.”

The Risk Manager tool is available to Google Cloud customers by request. As for the cyber insurance coverage against data breaches, it will initially be offered to organizations in the U.S. Munich Re specified that the offering will at first be launched for companies with $500 million to $5 billion in revenue, with plans to open access to organizations in more countries and revenue segments further down the line.

Google is touting the partnership with AGCS and Munich Re as the first such collaboration in the industry between a leading cloud provider and major cyber insurance companies. But that could change over time. If the new offering catches on, the search giant’s competitors in the public cloud market may be motivated to bring similar products to market.