The insurance industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by growing demand for digitalisation and personalisation. With growing importance of technologies such as telematics, machine learning, big data, deep learning, and data science, insurers are overcoming demographic challenges, low penetration rates, cybercrimes and fraudulent claims. In the last three years alone, there have been over 11,000 patents filed and granted in the insurance industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Cybersecurity in Insurance: Cyber-attack risk analysis.
However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
90 innovations will shape the insurance industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the insurance industry using innovation intensity models built on over 65,000 patents, there are 90 innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, blockchain-based authentication is a disruptive technology that is in the early stage of application and should be tracked closely. Satellite-based anti-theft tracking, cyber-attack risk analysis, and fraud detection techniques are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are E-payment security protocols and anonymous authentication, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for cybersecurity in the insurance industry
Cyber-attack risk analysis is a key innovation area in cybersecurity
Reviewing the risks connected to a specific activity or event is referred to as risk analysis and is one of the phases in the whole risk management process for cybersecurity. Information technology, projects, security concerns, and any other situation where risks may be evaluated on a quantitative and qualitative basis are all subject to risk analysis.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 20+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established insurance companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of cyber-attack risk analysis.
Key players in cyber-attack risk analysis – a disruptive innovation in the insurance industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to cyber attack risk analysis
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2021) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance | 72 | Unlock company profile |
| SoftBank Group | 54 | Unlock company profile |
| Flex | 49 | Unlock company profile |
| Toronto-Dominion Bank | 43 | Unlock company profile |
| Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China | 18 | Unlock company profile |
| Guidewire Software | 16 | Unlock company profile |
| eBay | 15 | Unlock company profile |
| Security First | 15 | Unlock company profile |
| Healthy io | 11 | Unlock company profile |
| Swiss Re Asia Pacific | 10 | Unlock company profile |
| Alphabet | 9 | Unlock company profile |
| Taikang Insurance Group | 7 | Unlock company profile |
| Qomplx | 7 | Unlock company profile |
| Rpx | 7 | Unlock company profile |
| Baidu | 6 | Unlock company profile |
| Aon | 6 | Unlock company profile |
| Lookout | 6 | Unlock company profile |
| Visa | 6 | Unlock company profile |
| Staton Techiya | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| Quanta Computer | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| Palantir Technologies | 5 | Unlock company profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance is one of the leading patent filers in cyberattack risk analysis. The process includes receiving data indicating precautions against unauthorised electronic access to some or all of a vehicle's electronic systems. The procedure comprises calculating the vehicle's risk rating, which is one of the insurance policy parameters. Some other key patent filers in the cyber-attack risk analysis industry include SoftBank Group, Flex, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Ping An Insurance, and Guidewire Software.
In terms of application diversity, Healthy io leads the pack, with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance and Flex in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Alphabet holds the top position, followed by Swiss Re Asia Pacific and Baidu.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the insurance industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Cybersecurity in Insurance.
