When the Sun Belt states' white-hot construction market evaporated, Horizon E&S Insurance Brokerage—which counted this sector among its business staples—looked to diversify its client base and lines. Cyberspace recently emerged as a lucrative new frontier for the California-based managing general agent.

"We've found a niche with a cyber-liability program that has worked quite nicely for us in the past few months," says Jay Ginnow, Horizon's vice president. "We write it through Lloyd's of London, which offers very competitive, very broad language. We've been getting lots of positive responses."

The product is a third-party liability line for entities exposed to identity theft as well as privacy issues relating to media and technology: Companies charged with physically transporting computer-server hardware, for instance, or design and graphics firms hired by entertainment concerns such as The Walt Disney Co., which requires its consultants to carry insurance covering the theft of logos and other trademarked content.