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With more data than ever being loaded into systems, protecting it has become the law. But to achieve truly effective information security, insurers find they must go beyond regulatory compliance and leverage the partnership of IT and business. By Michael P. Voelker

Today, my house has multiple locks on every door, and it has become second nature to turn on the security system every time I leave. ...

By Michael P. Voelker | Updated on January 31, 2004

Today, my house has multiple locks on every door, and it has become second nature to turn on the security system every time I leave. It never seems odd to me until I consider that, growing up, we routinely left the doors and windows wide open when we left the house.

In business, it seems inconceivable an insurer could operate without the firewalls, virus protection, private network software, and a host of other security technologies that protect information assets. But consider that information securityat least of the electronic varietystill is a relatively new activity.To put it in perspective, in the early 90s, [our] security team was eight people, says Bruce Bonsall, CISO at MassMutual Financial Group, Springfield, Mass., a number that may well have been eight greater than many other companies. Now, we have 30 people, and the number of issues has grown equally. With each new technology comes new vulnerabilities and exploits; every time we figure out how to use it, someone else figures out how to abuse it, and this game of one-upmanship keeps us very busy.

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