Winners revealed for Intelligent Insurer’s Cyber Insurance Awards USA

Hosted by the talented comedian Adam Mamawala, the event brought together over 200 esteemed guests from across the US cyber insurance industry who had the honor of recognizing and celebrating the outstanding achievements of companies, teams, and individuals in the space.

Congratulations to all the winners and highly commended recipients who have demonstrated exceptional innovation and excellence in cyber insurance.

We are grateful to the Award Sponsors who included: Beazley, Canopius, Checkpoint, Crowdstrike, cysmo, LevelBlue, S-RM and The Beckage Firm.

After guests had enjoyed networking drinks and a three-course dinner, the winners and highly commended entries for the 26 categories featured were announced, along with the comments from the judges as to why they were chosen. 

Company Award Finalists

• NEW! Cyber Re/Insurance Product of the Year

Winner: QBE Insurance - Cyber AI and LLMjacking Protection

“This product is useful because it covers a new type of emerging risk that traditional cyber insurance often misses: attacks involving AI systems. Undoubtedly this will be the first iteration, but it's likely we will see others follow this innovation.”

Highly Commended: Aon Reinsurance Solutions - Surge Stop Loss

“Novel product design - this product takes away the event definition requirement which has caused concerns in the past. It's always good to see innovation in the cyber reinsurance market.”

• NEW! Cyber Partnership of the Year

Winner: CRC and DarkWebIQ

“This is a strong partnership between the most innovative tech platform with a Wholesale Broker, showing a commitment on the brokers part to strong Risk Management. More insurance carriers should be working with dark web data in general, as it is strongly correlated with risk.”

Highly commended: ESET and Amwins

“Good to see a security partnership with a broker as these provide a strong value add to the market. EDR has one of the strongest correlations to risk reduction.”

• NEW! Cyber Risk-modelling Technology Provider of the Year

Winner: CyberCube

“Cybercube continues to lead in this space with solutions that are impactful to insured clients, insurers, and brokers, across the cyber ecosystem.”

Joint Highly Commended: Moody's

“Moody's is a top-notch analytics from an organization that is a key player in the risk modelling space.”

Joint Highly Commended: Axio

“Axio’s insights are innovative. They provide needed and comprehensive risk analysis. The analysis of CZ coverage will be key to cyber insurance going forward.” 

• NEW! Cyber Forensic Accountancy Firm of the Year

Winner: Baker Tilly

“Baker Tilly has been a strong partner and in the forefront of dealing with the most important aspect of cyber, business interruption. During CAT events, they have come up with novel approaches including spinning up dashboards which have made resolution of BI matters easier and less expensive. 

Highly Commended:MDD Forensic Accountants

“MDD is a stand-out firm that is leading in market engagement and innovation, service, value proposition, and demonstrates a dedication to training and educating the cyber insurance industry.” 

• Cyber Insurance Carrier of the Year

Winner: Beazley

“Beazley remains a market leader in a competitive environment which is not easy.  They have shown market leadership and responsibly communicated loss emergence and exposures to the cyber community to learn from.”

Highly Commended: Chubb

“Chubb's cyber discipline and large client tailorization is market leading. They have shown consistently strong underwriting performance.”

• Cyber Underwriting Team of the Year

Winner: Parametrix

“Although still relatively new, they are definitely innovative and work hard to solve a tough problem. They do a good job, providing expertise and customer service at an above average level.”

Highly Commended: HSB

“Solid underwriting team. Their white label product is market leading.”

• Cyber Claims Team of the Year 

Winner: Beazley 

“Strong submission demonstrating how Beazley addresses efficiency, accuracy, and empathy in handling cyber claims.”

Highly Commended: AXA XL 

“AXA XL can handle complex claims effectively.” 

• Cyber MGA of the Year

Winner: Resilience

“Very solid MGA,  who continue to be competitive. Their strength is their offering of both security and insurance, helping businesses avoid cyber attacks, survive them, and financially recover from them — all in one package.”

Highly Commended: Parametrix

“Strong submission, highlighting how they serve a niche market with a unique offering and take an innovative approach.”

• Cyber Insurance Broker of the Year

Winner: Aon

"Very solid, capable broker, with a strong, metrics driven submission. Aon consistently places clients’ interests over their own agenda.

Highly Commended: ProWriters

“Strong submission highlighting their 2025 acquisition and expansion with Marsh/MMA. Great to see such strong testimonials.”

• Cyber Reinsurance Broker of the Year

Winner: Guy Carpenter, a Marsh Business

“Guy Carpenter has led the reinsurance space in product innovation. Their breadth of treaties managed is impressive. They always provide the best information and show willingness to help others in the industry.”

Highly Commended: Aon Reinsurance Solutions

“Aon is a notable powerhouse in the reinsurance space. Aon's data and analytics team, led by Crystal is truly a distinguishing factor in their services.

• Cyber Reinsurer of the Year

Winner: OdysseyRe

“OdysseyRe is known for being disciplined and consistent and can handle complex risks. OdysseyRe has made some good investments in talent, and the underwriters are amenable to work with clients to find solutions.”

Highly Commended: Swiss Re

“Reliable, solid contributor to cyber reinsurance market. Good to see their offering increase in non-traditional markets.”

• Cyber Insurtech of the Year

Winner: Bitsight

“A market leader in the scoring space, Bitsight continues to innovate and adapt to changes in the Cyber market. They are a long time consistent contributor to the cyber reinsurance industry with continual innovation.”

Highly Commended: KYND

“Kynd has an easy to use, efficient platform that assists in both the quoting process as well as the binding process. Very strong underwriting results from the use of the product. Kudos for working on solutions for the SME market.”

• Cyber Insurance Technology Provider of the Year

Winner: Axio

“Axio is a strong candidate as they are using advanced Technological Tools to quantify Cyber-Physical Damage and BI costs. They are a leader in the risk quantification space. Their BI modeling is second to none and is empowering new distribution markets.”

Highly Commended: Spektrum Labs

“Spektrum Labs deploys strong tools, and continues to evolve/develop solutions.”

• Cyber Underwriting Technology Provider of the Year 

Winner: CyRisk

"This platform is truly next generation. We are now entering into a period where privacy risks are emerging as AI exposures, and this is the right partner to help any Risk manager mitigate those."

Highly Commended: Cyberwrite

“Cyberwrite is becoming a stalwart for this award. The innovative platform combines AI underwriting with analytics which deliver valuable results to any risk manager, looking at portfolio aggregation in a very volatile market.”

• Cyber Insurance Awareness Campaign of the Year

Winner: CFC

“CFC is a true leader in this space. Their broker education is helping sell and create a market in this space as evidenced by the numbers of participants. The metrics they included on adoption demonstrate take up & tangible impact."

Highly Commended: ProWriters

“Prowriters education for agents in the SME space is innovative and different compared to what others are doing.”

• Cyber Insurance Incident Response Provider of the Year

Winner: IronGate Cybersecurity

“Strong submission and testimonials showing impressive growth over the last 2.5 years while maintaining good service levels. Irongate has continued to innovate in this space since their origin and has established a well recognized reputation, sharing data well and offering an expanding set of resources.”

Highly Commended: Arctic Wolf

“Arctic Wolf is well established in the SME space and has the spread to service their clients. Their submission was strong with great use of stats to inform judges, and good testimonials. Great breadth of products for Insureds.”

• Cyber Security Consulting Services Provider of the Year

Winner: LevelBlue 

“LevelBlue has grown in the past year to create a transformational advisory group. They have worked hard to offer the best source of information, best service and great offering of products.”

Highly Commended: IronGate Cybersecurity

“IronGate has done very well to establish themselves as a leader in the market in a short time. They are a value-added partner who can provide clients with services both pre-and post breach, including quick Pen-testing and other tools that can enhance the underwriting experience.”

• Cyber Security Solution Provider of the Year

Winner: Pondurance

"Pondurance is a top notch firm that delivers security solutions across the board. Their strength lies in the scope/breadth of their services, and it's a bonus that they are leveraging the Incident Response expertise in the consulting environment."

Highly Commended: LevelBlue

"Interesting new model - LevelBlue combines security solutions, incident response, proactive risk management approaches, and consulting services. We're looking forward to seeing their future development.” 

• Cyber Law Firm of the Year 

Winner: Mullen Coughlin

“Mullen Coughlin is a deserved winner due to their ease of doing business, high-calibre attorneys, and strong partnerships with carriers. They offer top-tier data insights, continue to innovate, and have been a supportive, foundational part of the market from the beginning. They also give back through extensive training and resources, especially for those new to the industry.”

Joint Highly Commended: Constangy, Brooks, Smith, & Prophete

“Constangy is a well known, well respected player in this space. Their cyber team is excellent with expertise in various segments. They have a strong breach response and litigation team.”  

Joint Highly Commended: McDonald Hopkins

“McDonald Hopkins does a good job, providing expertise and customer service at an above average level. They are a strong, consistent partner in cyber insurance.” 

Individual Award Finalists

Attendees were equally excited to hear who the winners for our 8 individual categories, recognizing the talent shaping the future of cyber insurance are:

• NEW! Cyber Underwriter of the Year

Winner: Cassie Quaranta, Assistant Vice President, Crum & Forster

“In a challenging environment Cassie leverages her strength and creativity in order to be successful. She is a “go to” partner for her distribution.”

Highly Commended: Connor Weaver, Underwriting Manager, AIG

“Connor has made significant strides over the past few years and is an expert in his field.”

• NEW! Cyber Technical Specialist of the Year

Winner: Lauren Winchester, Head of Cyber Risk Services, Travelers

“Lauren has a rare combination of technical and legal expertise. She's innovative and takes initiative. She has a diverse skillset and has held leadership roles at both Insurance Carrier, as well MGA. She is an asset to our industry as a whole, and will be a leader for years to come.”

Highly Commended: Daniel Caplin, Director, Incident Response Americas, S-RM.

“Daniel has done exceptional work, especially in the area of Incident Response.”

• Inspiring Woman in Cyber Insurance 

Winner: Meghan Hannes, Chief Underwriting Officer, K2 Cyber

"Megan brings energy to everything she does -- works hard, lifts people up, helps everyone shine. She is an incredible leader and groundbreaker in the cyber space. The challenges she faces and how she handles everything, is second to none. Meghan has been at the center of what cyber insurance is and hopefully what it will become. She is one of the most innovative, thought-provoking and most of all kind leaders. She is an excellent champion of women, and is so inspiring!"

Highly Commended: Maria Long, Chief Underwriting Officer, Resilience

“Maria is a very strong leader, a very kind person, and very inspiring to those who know her and work with her. Maria has been a groundbreaker in this industry, building and successfully launching several platforms. Impressive background and she's definitely a role model for women in the industry. Maria is always there and ready and available to help, she's mentored countless women in this space.”

• Rising Star in Cyber Insurance

Winner: Grace Norgaard, AVP & Team Leader - Cyber Solutions, Aon

“Grace has grown into a strong broker who is taking a leading role at Aon and in the Chicago market. She is a great entry for this award. Excellent examples of leadership and innovation, demonstrating how her career trajectory is on the rise, how she's contributing to the industry already after only a few years in cyber. Her work with Women in Cyber Conference shows strong industry impact.”

Highly commended: Dr. Daniel Woods, Head of Emerging Risk, Coalition, Inc

“Daniel's research is well known and always a must-read. He has rapidly become a forward thinker and a thought leader in the space.”

• Cyber Insurance Lawyer of the Year

Winner: Carolyn Purwin Ryan, Partner - Mullen Coughlin LLC

“Carolyn has grown the MC litigation practice considerably over the past year. I love how the submission highlights specific accomplishments of the practice. Carolyn is also a force within our industry -- so well networked and admired, she regularly speaks on important issues. She is constantly supporting the cyber insurance industry and policyholders.

Highly Commended: Alyssa Watzman, Vice Chair & Partner, Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete

"Aylssa demonstrates proactive leadership, standing out by addressing rising ransomware threats, regulatory scrutiny. On global impact issues, she was able to bring many counsel members together to share information and also change the handling approach of other counsel to align and better aid clients. She takes an innovative approach to sharing information and shaping industry dialogue during events.”

• Cyber Insurance Mentor of the Year

Winner: Theresa Le, Global Head of Cyber Insurance Strategy, Booz Allen Hamilton

“Theresa has always lifted people up and it's obvious to anyone that works with her. A mentor above all is welcoming and open, and Theresa is just that. Even when she was on the carrier side, she was just as open with mentoring vendors as she was her colleagues. She's brilliant, yet humble and a breath of fresh air for an industry that doesn't always make time for new entrants.”

Highly Commended: Michelle Chia, Chief Underwriting Officer for Cyber, Design and Select Professionals, AXA XL

"Michelle is a proven leader in this space who not just raises the bar for the industry but also gives back in mentoring multiple people of various levels."

• Cyber Legend

Winner: Lori Bailey

"Lori is a pillar of the cyber community. She exemplifies a global leader who has had a varied career which has served her well in all aspects of what she does. Her leadership capabilities are strong. She is always willing to take time out of busy schedule to support and mentor others. She has demonstrated innovation and care for market growth."

Highly Commended: Catherine Lyle

"Catherine is an excellent communicator - her presence is commanding, she is direct and to the point. She is always willing to share her time and her intellect with industry and is not afraid to share opinions.  She super impressively built and left a mark at Coalition and has proven her leadership capability in claims at Tokio Marine."

Click here to view the full list of winners and highly commended now.

“It was fantastic to see the return of the Cyber Insurance Awards USA to a packed audience last night at the historic and elegant venue of The Union League Club of Chicago. This is a truly innovative sector and the judges had some incredibly hard decisions to make. We were thrilled to be able to present the winners and highly commended with their trophies and recognise their hard work and contributions to the industry,” said Aditi Mathur, Managing Editor, Intelligent Insurer. 

With thanks to our expert judging panel for 2026!

Once again, congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to our sponsors, judges, and nominees for contributing to making this event a tremendous success!

Mark your calendars for the Cyber Insurance Awards USA 2027, set to return in Chicago in April 2027.  Nominations will open in the summer of 2026. If you're interested in being a nominee, judge, or sponsor, then please email us.

View The Winners Now

Contact us today:

For Award enquiries:

Gina Baillie

Senior Researcher & Producer

Intelligent Insurer

gbaillie@newtonmedia.co.uk

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