Kroll Conversations: The People Powering Cyber and Data Resilience

When the worst happens, having the right support in place is critical. Cyber insurance plays a vital role in a fast, decisive response to security incidents. But how do insurance companies ensure their policyholders can access the services they need when they most need them? That’s a challenge Jessica Centeno and Wayne Hayes-Heath are actively working to address. As two members of the newly launched and growing Cyber Insurance team spearheaded by Katherine Keefe, they are responsible for enabling Kroll to deliver effective and innovative services, tools and data that enhance cyber resilience and accelerate incident response to cyber insurance carriers, policyholders and Kroll clients. “This involves fostering strong links across insurance, business and cybersecurity,” says Wayne. “My day-to-day is all about managing Kroll’s relationships with and between the counsel, the cyber insurance carrier and the broker. Not only do we work as a strategic partner and panel vendor, we also serve as consultants for insurers while acting as a virtual security arm for the policyholder. It's very relationship-driven.”

Jessica adds, “My role involves working on strategy for clients and leveraging our practitioners to make sure carrier partners, law firms and brokers are getting whatever they need when dealing with incidents—and that they're receiving the best service.”

Unique Insight

Now participating in over 85 insurance panels and handling thousands of incidents every year, Kroll has a long history in the insurance carrier space. The new team is actively building on this track record, thanks to specialist knowledge that spans insurance and incident response. Jessica has an eight-year track record as an insurance broker in cyber, media, tech E&O and professional liability, whereas Wayne has over 12 years of strategic relationship management experience, having nurtured sales growth in companies within cyber, global breach and regulation services. Katherine served as U.S. Cyber Incident Management Leader at Marsh and as Head of Breach Response Services at Beazley, and she has extensive experience counseling clients on regulatory, transactional, compliance and risk management issues, both as a law firm partner and as in-house counsel. She provides insights on insurance and incident response in Kroll's Let's Talk Cyber Resilience podcast.

The team’s experience even extends to coping with the aftermath of a major cyberattack, as Wayne shares: “In a previous role, I worked for a company that was hit by a very large cybersecurity incident, so I understand what it’s like to go through something like that from a personal perspective. When I say to a client, ‘I've got you. I've been in your shoes, and I will help you. I'm here all the way,’ I really mean it. Because what I find really rewarding is helping a company and putting them at ease in their time of need.”

Bringing Insurers and Incident Response Experts Together

The new team is laser-focused on its goal to offer something new to cyber insurance partners and Kroll clients alike. A key element of this, as Jessica highlights, is bringing insurers and organizations closer to the specialist practitioners delivering the services. “While we are definitely relationship-focused, we're also service- and technically-oriented. When we meet a partner, we're introducing them to the people who will actually be servicing the incident.”

As a result, organizations achieve more from their cyber insurance and the incident response services they need at every stage of the security incident lifecycle. “We're responsible for the whole setup: bringing in our practitioners and empowering them to have direct relationships with the carriers, the law firms and the brokers,” says Wayne. “At Kroll, we are building something unique and dynamic. No other vendor in our space has the wider end-to-end offering provided through all our different business lines. We serve as a security advisor and an industry expert for all types of organizations. Although Kroll has often been seen as only dealing with big issues and big companies, it’s important to highlight that we will help and advise anybody.”

“A lot of our competitors offer a handful of services, whereas we offer everything,” adds Jessica. “We've also been around a lot longer than most of our competitors, many of which are startups. People know Kroll, and they know we are committed to our clients for the long term.”

Staying Two Steps Ahead

With the worlds of insurance and cybersecurity changing fast, having the new Cyber Insurance team in place means Kroll is fully equipped to respond as priorities evolve. “Insurers are facing many types of challenges right now,” says Wayne. “At Kroll, we offer something different to make their lives easier: services that help policyholders become more secure."

Providing this standard of support to insurers and industry involves staying not one but two steps ahead, as Jessica explains: “Whether it’s AI, cryptocurrency or blockchain, at Kroll, we always aim to be years in advance of everyone else in those spaces. We're always looking to the future.”

Learn More About Our Cyber Insurance Team