Identity Theft Insurance: Market Update By Heather & Trevor Garbers December is National Identity Theft Awareness and Prevention Month.
Let’s start with, what trends are you seeing in employerbased identity theft coverage today?
This is a valuable newer benefit in our marketplace that can be offered to protect the financial security of employees, in addition to enhancing the corporate cybersecurity of their employer. How big of a problem is identity theft today? Here are some staggering statistics from the National Council on Identity Theft Protection: There is an identity theft case every 22 seconds Total annual losses are currently estimated to be $10.2 billion 33% of Americans have faced some form of identity theft at some point in their lives nearly 3 times higher than in other countries Consumers aged 30-39 were the most victimized The market for identity theft protection services is expected to reach $28 billion by 2029
Jason - Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing a bigger and bigger role in criminals' efforts to steal identities and commit fraud. As of now, criminal AI efforts don’t really change the type of fraud, but rather the speed and sophistication of their attempts. It is becoming increasingly easier to impersonate someone’s speech and email patterns or even their voice. Scammers are becoming adept at social engineering. Criminals are beginning to build victim profiles that heighten an individual's emotions and pressure points. Finally, even for those with identity theft coverage, the lack of subscriber utilization of key features that are designed to prevent fraud is the thing that truly prevents the effectiveness of identity theft protection. Remember, reducing fraud and the subsequent stress along with improved productivity is the overall basis for offering identity theft protection as an employee benefit. The importance of employee utilization cannot be underestimated; product innovation alone is not enough.
We’ve brought in several experts on identity theft solutions to talk about the market today including: Jason Steed (Vice President, Sales & Business Development Leader at Equifax Workforce Solutions), Shelby Gartner, (Vice President, Sales – Broker Partnerships, TransUnion), and Cord Rotondo (Vice President of Sales, Norton LifeLock Benefit Solutions).
Shelby - More and more employers are taking an active interest in educating employees on cyber risks and digital hygiene. In 2024, I believe we will start to see more emphasis on employee education and training than we have in the past. More employers are recognizing just how large the human risk element really is – even by conscientious, well-meaning employees.
