Insurance and Cybersecurity: Does Cyber Insurance Offer Symbol or Security?

Cyber risks—loss exposure associated with the use of electronic equipment, information technology, and computers—are among the biggest threats facing businesses and consumers. Unfortunately, prevailing research suggests that private organizations are not significantly changing their behavior in response. Many have formal cybersecurity policies in place, but most believe they are insufficiently prepared for a data breach, have not devoted adequate resources to protect consumers’ information from data breaches, and fail to perform sufficient risk assessments.

In response to vague and fragmented privacy laws and a lack of strong government oversight, insurers offer cyber insurance and risk-management services to their customers that convey legitimacy but fall short of improving the robustness of organizations. And federal and state regulators and industry-based rating agencies have deferred to cyber insurers, without evidence that these tools actually improve security. To address these shortfalls, Prof. Talesh offers, and the panel discusses, policy recommendations for how insurers and governments can work together to improve cybersecurity and foster greater algorithmic justice.

This program has been approved for a total of 1.5 Substantive CLE credits for Pennsylvania lawyers. CLE credit may be available in other jurisdictions as well. Attendees seeking CLE credit can make a payment via cash or check made payable to ”The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania” on the day of the event or prior to the event via the online registration link in the amount of $60.00 ($30.00 public interest/non-profit attorneys). In order to receive the appropriate amount of credit, evaluation forms must be completed.

Penn Carey Law Alumni receive CLE credits free through The W.P. Carey Foundation’s generous commitment to Lifelong Learning.

Author of Insuring Cyberinsecurity: Insurance Companies as Symbolic Regulators (Univ. of Cal. Press 2025), Shauhin Talesh is Professor at Law at the University of California, Irvine. He is considered one of the leading interdisciplinary scholars on organizational responses to law and compliance and the relationship between insurance, regulation, and inequality. His most recent research focuses on how cyber insurance and insurance companies shape cybersecurity and privacy law compliance among private organizations.

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