Autor: venred

BOSTON and TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — BitSight, the Standard in Security Ratings, and Kovrr, a leader in data-driven cyber risk modeling, today announced a partnership to deliver the industry’s most comprehensive data-driven cyber risk financial quantification solution for the insurance market. The BitSight-Kovrr Financial Quantification for Insurance Cyber Risk gives cyber insurers the tools required to make decisions more accurately and confidently about key areas of the cyber insurance business including underwriting, modeling, and portfolio management.

To begin the partnership, BitSight and Kovrr released a joint financial analysis of the impact of the unprecedented 2020 SolarWinds attack to the insurance industry, estimating the insured losses to be $90,000,000. This analysis was made possible by BitSight and Kovrr’s ability to identify unique breach elements as cost components, including the size, location, and industry of the organizations impacted by SolarWinds.

Together, BitSight and Kovrr are delivering a comprehensive end-to-end solution that allows cyber insurers globally to underwrite companies of any size, from any geography and industry; model individual risk and portfolio exposure; and engage insureds with detailed visibility into their security posture. The BitSight-Kovrr Financial Quantification of Cyber Risk combines BitSight’s industry-leading data and analytics on company-specific cybersecurity performance and fourth-party aggregate risk, with Kovrr’s advanced cyber risk multi-model technology to deliver the cyber insurance market’s most comprehensive, data-driven end-to-end solution for underwriting and portfolio management. Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty (AGCS) is one of the first insurance carriers that has selected BitSight and Kovrr to advance their own cyber insurance underwriting and portfolio risk management capabilities.

Cyber insurance claims are on the rise, driven by an increase in cyber-attacks from ransomware, phishing, third-party breaches and more. According to AON, U.S. cyber insurers saw a 10% loss ratio increase due to ransomware in 2019. Cyber insurers are forced to pay out more in claims than they had anticipated, leading to worsening loss ratios and ultimately, diminishing profitability. The BitSight-Kovrr Financial Quantification of Cyber Risk solves for the lack of historic and real-time security performance data on individual organizations, which has previously challenged cyber insurers to make informed underwriting decisions and negatively impacted risk modeling approaches.

«The cyber insurance market requires data that is specific, relevant, accurate, current, and transparent,» said Dave Fachetti, chief strategy officer at BitSight. «BitSight offers the most comprehensive externally observable data on organization security performance in the industry. The combination of BitSight’s data and analytics and Kovrr’s comprehensive, automated, and scalable modeling technology will be crucial to address the industry need for a more accurate and consistent approach to making key underwriting and portfolio management decisions related to cyber risk.»

Yakir Golan, CEO of Kovrr, stated, «Understanding and modeling the impact of major cyber incidents on an insurer’s portfolio is key for enabling further growth of the cyber insurance industry. The BitSight-Kovrr solution allows cyber insurers to fully operationalize initiatives from single risk underwriting to portfolio risk accumulation management. We’re excited to join forces with BitSight in support of the global insurance community.»

For information about the BitSight-Kovrr Financial Quantification for Insurance Cyber Risk solution please visit https://www.bitsight.com/security-ratings-cyber-insurance.

About BitSight
BitSight transforms how organizations manage cyber risk. The BitSight Security Ratings Platform applies sophisticated algorithms, producing daily security ratings that range from 250 to 900, to help organizations manage their own security performance; mitigate third party risk; underwrite cyber insurance policies; conduct financial diligence; and assess aggregate risk. With over 2,100 global customers and the largest ecosystem of users and information, BitSight is the Standard in Security Ratings. For more information, please visit www.bitsight.com, read our blog or follow @BitSight on Twitter.

About Kovrr
Kovrr’s cyber risk modeling platform delivers global (re)insurers transparent, data driven insights into their affirmative and non-affirmative cyber risk exposures. The Kovrr platform is designed to help underwriters, exposure managers and catastrophe modelers understand, financially quantify and manage cyber risk by utilizing AI-powered risk models. For more information, please visit www.kovrr.com or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitsight-and-kovrr-conduct-joint-analysis-of-the-financial-impact-of-the-solarwinds-breach-announce-new-partnership-301205769.html

SOURCE BitSight

CHICAGO, Jan. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Solar Simplified, a platform driving accessibility, transparency, and mainstream adoption of solar energy, announced today the expedited completion of their first exclusive solar energy farm 12 times faster than the industry standard.

Solar Simplified partnered with a solar developer and owner to complete the farm in September, helping to meet the needs of over 750 homes and small businesses in upstate New York. The solar farm consists of approximately 20,000 solar panels across roughly 70 acres and produces 7MW, which is one of the top 0.05% largest solar farms available in New York today and among the top 10 largest projects in NYSEG utility territory.

«As the world searches for new ways to power our homes and businesses, the future of solar is brighter than ever. We are excited to make available the innovation of renewable energy and community solar infrastructure to the people of upstate New York and see this as a significant early step in our mission to democratize renewable energy,» said Aviv Shalgi, CEO of Solar Simplified.

Solar Simplified is disrupting the world of alternative renewable energy by breaking the reliance of renewable energy developers on large energy-consuming corporations. By building a groundbreaking, innovative, and highly efficient platform, Solar Simplified enables developers to reach the masses without bearing the costs of building sales, marketing, and billing organizations.

By matching renters, homeowners, and small businesses who care about the environment and want to save money on their electricity bill with local solar farms through an easy and transparent signup process, Solar Simplified is making renewable energy accessible to all. 

To learn more, visit: https://solarsimplified.com

Media Contact 

Holly Hitchcock
Front Lines Media
holly@frontlines.io

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/solar-simplified-completes-first-solar-farm-12x-faster-than-industry-standard-301206119.html

SOURCE Solar Simplified

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — U.S. patent grants ticked downward only slightly in 2020 from the prior year, despite the global pandemic, according to IFI CLAIMS Patent Services which just published its annual IFI U.S. Top 50 patent recipients using 2020 United States Patent and Trademark Office data. IFI also once again compiled the IFI Global 250 which looks across the world’s major patent authorities to reveal the top holders of active patent assets.

Total U.S. patent grants declined less than 1 percent from 2019, going from 354,428 to 352,013. Patent applications, however, rose nearly 5 percent from 2019 to 2020, continuing an upward trend over the past four years. Highlights from the full analysis and an overview of trends appear on the IFI website.

The Top 50 and related rankings from IFI provide insight into the most innovative companies and R&D organizations. The information is culled from thousands of new patent documents daily, and with the data standardized for quick and accurate analysis.

IBM, the perpetual leader in U.S. patents, once again topped the U.S. Top 50, with 9,130 grants, down 1 percent from 2019. Among companies based outside America, Samsung Electronics earned the most U.S. patents, 6,415, placing it No. 2 on the list. Canon Inc., Microsoft, Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor, LG Electronics, Apple, Huawei Technologies, and Qualcomm rounded out the top 10 patent assignees during the past year.

All except Taiwan Semiconductor and Qualcomm were in the top 10 last year. Amazon stood just outside the elite 10, rising four spots from 15th place in 2019 to 11th place in 2020, with 2,244 patent grants.

Kia Motors, the South Korean car manufacturer, was one of only 19 companies on the list to increase its patent count during the past 12 months, going from 921 grants in 2019 to 1,322 in 2020. That 43 percent leap led the pack, with Sharp (ranked 32nd) rising sharply by 27 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor (ranked 6th) increasing its patent count by 21 percent. Huawei, the only representative of China in the Top 10 (ranked 9th), logged 14 percent more patents in 2020.

While Kia had the most upward movement on the U.S. list, moving from 41st place in 2019 to 24^th in 2020, GM Global Technology Operations slipped furthest, from 25th to the 48th spot, a 39 percent drop in grants. Halliburton Energy Services and Toshiba were second and third worst performers, slipping by 24 percent and 18 percent respectively. Amazon’s patent activity declined 7 percent. 

Cumulatively, non-U.S. companies and organizations had the majority share of new U.S. patent grants last year at 53 percent. The U.S. received the lion’s share of any single country though with 164,379 overall. That was 47 percent of all patents granted and more than three times the number earned by Japanese companies (No. 2 with 52,429). South Korea held the No. 3 slot with 22,400, while Chinese concerns ranked fourth on the list, with 18,792 grants.

Fastest Growing Technologies

The fastest growing technology based on patent applications – a strong indicator of what’s coming down the pike – is Computer Systems Based on Biological Models, which saw a 67 percent increase from 2016-20. This hot area of computing uses brain biology as an inspiration and includes Big Tech stalwarts such as Google, Microsoft and Intel. Another area, Electrical Smoking Devices, saw a 55 percent increase over the same period. Other fast-movers include Machine Learning, Quantum Computing, Auto-pilots/Navigation for Vehicles, and 3D Printing. To view the full report, visit the 2020 Top 10 Fastest-Growing Technologies published today.

«Overall, U.S. patent activity was down slightly last year, despite the pandemic. This is a minor downward tick in what’s been a largely upward trajectory we’ve seen over the past decade, and it’s still 13 percent higher than what we saw in 2018,» said Mike Baycroft, CEO of IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. «Another positive indicator is that published pre-grant applications saw a nominal increase in 2020. But we’ll have to wait at least another year before we can determine if the pandemic had any impact.»

Samsung Leads IFI Global 250 with Most Current Holdings

While IBM may lead U.S. calendar-year grants, Samsung, headquartered in South Korea, holds by far the most active patent assets in the world with 80,577, 5 percent more than in 2019 and more than twice that of IBM, which ranks second on the IFI Global 250 with 38,541. Canon, with 36,161, is a close third, and Microsoft and Robert Bosch GmbH round out the top 5.

IFI’s Global 250 ranking is based on currently held active patent assets as of December 31, 2020. It includes patent assets held in all of the major patent jurisdictions including the U.S., Europe, China, Japan and others. It also is based on «ultimate ownership» where subsidiaries and other owned entities are rolled up under the parent. Using this methodology, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd is not a single entity but a collection of 155 subsidiaries owned by Samsung. Another distinction is that it looks at active patent families where a family is a collection of global patent filings related to a single invention. As a result, a patent for the same invention filed in multiple jurisdictions is only counted once.

Patent activity is a valuable financial indicator for researchers, analysts, and investors who seek insight into companies’ R&D productivity and clues to IP strategy, as well as technology trends and the competitive landscape within various industries. Often the true value of a company lies with its intellectual properties. Examining patent assets is a key tool in gauging the intangible assets of publicly traded companies.

To create your own analysis, visit the IFI CLAIMS Top 1000, a free tool which uses data from the top 1000 companies that received U.S. patents in 2020. The tool shows live data for 2021 and offers interactive features that allow users to create and sort their own lists using a variety of filters. 

About IFI CLAIMS Patent Services/Fairview Research
IFI CLAIMS Patent Services uses proprietary data architecture to produce the industry’s most accurate patent database. The CLAIMS Direct platform allows for the easy integration of applications, other data sets, and analysis software. Headquartered in New Haven, Conn., with a satellite office in Barcelona, Spain, IFI CLAIMS is a division of Fairview Research. For more information, visit www.ificlaims.com.

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SOURCE IFI CLAIMS Patent Services