Recently, it was announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) that the first batch of pilot projects for cyber security insurance services in China has been successfully completed. During the pilot period, more than 1,500 policies were implemented for enterprises, with a total premium scale exceeding 150 million yuan and a total coverage amount of nearly 11.5 billion yuan. The market for cyber security insurance services shows broad prospects. For residents, over 2 million anti-fraud insurance policies have been implemented, with total premiums exceeding 24 million yuan and coverage exceeding 100 billion yuan. This has maximally safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of the people and achieved good social effects.
Innovative Integration of Cyber Security and Financial Services
Cyber security insurance is an innovative integration of cyber security and financial services. As a new type of insurance covering cyber security risks and a new model of cyber security services, it is conducive to enhancing the cyber security risk response capabilities of industry enterprises, promoting the digital transformation and development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), advancing the construction of a socialized cyber security service system, and promoting the high-quality development of the cyber security industry. It contributes to the building of a manufacturing power and a cyber power.
In July 2023, the MIIT and the National Financial Supervision and Administration Commission jointly issued the first policy document in the field of cyber security insurance in China, “Opinions on Promoting the Standardized and Healthy Development of Cyber Security Insurance,” and in December, they released a notice to launch the pilot work of cyber security insurance services.
Implementation of Pilot Projects
During the pilot period, the MIIT released the “Directory of Typical Service Plans for Cybersecurity Insurance,” selecting 49 typical service plans for cybersecurity insurance with practical experience and application potential, and promoting them. A total of 68 units, including 13 local authorities, 34 cyber security insurance service institutions, and 21 industry enterprises, actively carried out pilot implementation based on this directory.
The implementation of the first batch of service pilot projects has effectively safeguarded the cyber security of new industrialization. For enterprise insurance in key industries such as telecommunications and the Internet, industrial Internet, and the Internet of Vehicles, over 30 new types of cyber security insurance products have been filed, covering scenarios such as information leakage and ransomware attacks. Combined with mainstream cyber security products and services such as anti-distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) and secure managed cloud services, more than 10 types of product and service-based cyber security insurance have been innovatively provided. For fields such as cloud security, industrial Internet, and intelligent connected vehicles, insurance for cyber security products, information technology products, and cyber security services is provided.
Innovative Models for Key Industry Enterprises
During the pilot program, many new models of cyber security insurance services for key industry enterprises have emerged through innovation. For leading enterprises and SMEs on the chain, supply chain network security insurance services were innovated to address the losses caused by supply chain attacks that extend to enterprises on the chain. Currently, the application and promotion effects in the manufacturing and energy industries are gradually emerging.
For instance, Midea Group, Jingneng Group, and others have taken out insurance for themselves and their upstream and downstream enterprises in the supply chain, enhancing the overall security level of the industrial chain. Facing the vast number of SMEs, considering their weak security capabilities and limited funds, lightweight pre-security risk assessment and in-security risk monitoring service methods were innovated, significantly enhancing the convenience and sense of gain of cyber security services for SMEs. During the pilot period, services were provided to over 300 SMEs in total.
Local Government Support
During the pilot process, local governments responded positively, gave full play to the role of the market mechanism, and put themselves in the shoes of enterprises to solve prominent safety problems in their development. Beijing has made overall plans for the development path of the cyber security insurance industry through policy and institutional supply, issued documents to promote the standardized and healthy development of cyber security insurance, and carried out the collection of the Beijing cyber security insurance industry map, etc., to stimulate the vitality of the Beijing cyber security insurance market and establish a linkage mechanism between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.
Shanghai has been steadily advancing the pilot program of cyber security insurance through policy guidance, mechanism innovation, and industrial collaboration. By leveraging measures such as fiscal budget subsidies, collecting insurance cases, and building service platforms, it has been precisely focusing on the medical and health industry. Jiangsu Province, in response to the pilot program “Cybersecurity Park Insurance” for national cyber security industrial parks, has integrated cyber security insurance services into the public service system of the parks, providing batch cyber security insurance services to 200 industrial enterprises in the parks.
Rapid Development of Cyber Security Insurance Services
Under the guidance of policies, China’s cyber security insurance services have entered a stage of rapid development. By the end of 2024, 53 insurance companies (including foreign-funded and joint venture insurers) had filed 341 cyber security insurance products. Among them, 56 new cyber security insurance products were added in 2024, covering innovative products such as protection of software supply chain liability and system defects.
Future Plans
Next, the MIIT will further strengthen the construction of systems, technologies, and ecosystems, give full play to the service role of cyber security insurance, support and guarantee the construction of a manufacturing power and a cyber power, and safeguard the development of new industrialization.
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