Cloud computing is growing in popularity among insurers and producers—and as usage evolves, so too is a thorough understanding of the risks involved, says Tim Francis, second vice president/enterprise cyber lead for insurer Travelers.

In one sense, the exposures for cloud computing remain very much the same as they are for an internal computer system: A potential cyber-attack or hacking could access and expose precious personal data. Or information could go missing or become exposed through negligence.

Cloud computing's disadvantage is that once a carrier or agency has turned over its data to the cloud, a degree of oversight is lost. And the ability to grasp the extent of a data breach is impaired, says Francis: "Control is limited, and you may not be allowed to look at the [cloud computing] information to identify what happened."

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