College officials wary of 'cyber insurance' for private data

Officials at University of Texas-Pan American and South Texas College see little value in cyber liability policies, which other colleges nationwide have purchased to offset large expenses following a data breach.

HIDALGO COUNTY, Texas (McAllen Monitor) August 9, 2010 -- Officials at both of Hidalgo County's public institutions of higher learning said they would rather rely on preventive measures than buy costly "cyber insurance" to protect against threats to their data security.

Representatives from the University of Texas-Pan American and South Texas College said they were confident in the rigor of their information security systems. They see little value in cyber liability policies, which other higher education institutions across the nation have purchased to offset large expenses following a data breach.

"Rather than spending money at the back end, use your resources to prevent (risk)," said the UTPA vice president of information technology. "There's better use in working to fight intrusion than being scared of it."

UTPA's network receives about 4 million attacks a year, the official said. But adding new layers to security would be better than buying what might be an unused insurance policy.

Members of STC's board of trustees also said they trusted their security network on July 26, when they voted to gather more information before making a decision on a $50,000 cyber liability policy.

Link: http://www.themonitor.com/news/officials-41652-insurance-college.html

Source: DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report