 "Insurance data not likely to be transferred to cloud servers")
The plan of insurance companies to store all data, including customers’ details, on cloud servers might not be implemented in the near future. The insurance regulator has raised concerns over data breach.
Industry officials said while companies abroad use cloud servers for all insurance-related activity, in India there is restricted usage. Moving the entire information technology infrastructure to cloud would help reduce overall costs, said senior executives.
At present, insurance companies, both life and general, have both cloud servers as well as physical servers for data storage and protection. Back-up data is also stored on cloud in case of any IT-related faults in the physical systems to ensure that no vital information is lost in this process.
Meanwhile, regulatory officials have made it clear that unless appropriate safeguards are in place, insurers might not be allowed to store such sensitive data on cloud.
"Technology-related processes, especially the newer ones like cloud have their own share of weaknesses, given that they are still in an evolutionary stage. Data leak or breach in such cases can prove to be very expensive for the insurance companies and individuals, since it can be put to wrong use," said a cyber security expert.
Industry officials said while companies abroad use cloud servers for all insurance-related activity, in India there is restricted usage. Moving the entire information technology infrastructure to cloud would help reduce overall costs, said senior executives.
At present, insurance companies, both life and general, have both cloud servers as well as physical servers for data storage and protection. Back-up data is also stored on cloud in case of any IT-related faults in the physical systems to ensure that no vital information is lost in this process.
More From This Section
"Moving totally to cloud servers would help reduce costs by at least 45-55 per cent overall for the industry since it is easier to maintain and retrieve. Especially for an industry like ours that deals with larger quantity of customer data everyday. Though there have been some cases of data breach in countries abroad, there are many security software available to prevent such cases," said a senior general insurance executive.
Meanwhile, regulatory officials have made it clear that unless appropriate safeguards are in place, insurers might not be allowed to store such sensitive data on cloud.
"Technology-related processes, especially the newer ones like cloud have their own share of weaknesses, given that they are still in an evolutionary stage. Data leak or breach in such cases can prove to be very expensive for the insurance companies and individuals, since it can be put to wrong use," said a cyber security expert.