PLUS Launches the Cyber Insurance Digital Forensics Professional (CIDFP) Designation

New Credential Bridges the Gap Between Technical Cyber Knowledge and Insurance Decision-Making
Developed in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton and Constangy

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) today announced the launch of the Cyber Insurance Digital Forensics Professional (CIDFP) designation, a new 15-session credential designed to equip cyber insurance professionals with the practical technical fluency they need to make better decisions across underwriting, claims, and product development.

The CIDFP addresses a knowledge gap that has become one of the most pressing challenges in the cyber insurance market. As the frequency and sophistication of cyber incidents continue to rise, insurance professionals are increasingly responsible for evaluating, underwriting, managing, and resolving risks driven by complex technology, yet many lack a working understanding of the technical events that create those losses.

That gap has real consequences. Without a practical command of how cyber incidents unfold, it can be difficult to evaluate an insured’s true resilience, interpret forensic findings, connect technical facts to policy language, or make informed decisions during a cyber claim. The CIDFP was built to close that gap, and to give early- and mid-career professionals a clear, structured pathway to build the kind of technical fluency that accelerates careers and strengthens organizations.

“The CIDFP gives insurance professionals something the market has been missing, which is a practical, structured pathway to understand how cyber incidents actually happen, how they translate into claims and financial loss, and what that means for the coverage decisions they make every day,” said Robbie Thompson, CEO of PLUS. “This is the designation the industry needs right now to further the strategic talent development required to succeed and help those who achieve it to stand out.”

Built by Practitioners, for Practitioners

The CIDFP was developed in partnership with two recognized leaders in cybersecurity and digital forensics: Booz Allen Hamilton and Constangy. Subject matter experts from both organizations serve as the faculty throughout the program, bringing real-world practitioner knowledge to every session.

This curriculum is built by the people who respond to, investigate, and litigate cyber incidents every day, thereby ensuring that every session reflects the realities of the current threat landscape and the insurance decisions that follow from it.

A Progressive, Practical Curriculum

The CIDFP moves through four progressive phases:

• Phase 1: Cyber Foundations & Incident Response Basics | Establishing a shared vocabulary between technical and insurance professionals
• Phase 2: How Cyber Incidents Happen | The mechanics of ransomware, business email compromise, cloud compromise, data breaches, and the regulatory exposure that follows
• Phase 3: Digital Forensics, Legal Interface & Risk Modeling | How incidents are investigated, proven, and litigated, and how forensic data informs portfolio-level risk modeling
• Phase 4: Insurance Strategy — Underwriting, Claims & Resilience | Resilience-based underwriting, claims handling realities, and coverage interpretation under pressure

The program concludes with an in-person capstone ransomware wargame, providing participants with a hands-on, end-to-end simulation of a cyber claim, from initial incident response through coverage decisions, negotiation, notification obligations, and post-incident planning.

Who Should Pursue the CIDFP

The CIDFP is a meaningful investment in talent development and designed for early- and mid-career professionals with a minimum of two years of insurance industry experience. Whether building a foundation or expanding capabilities to grow greater responsibilities, the CIDFP meets participants where they are and takes them further.

Professionals who will benefit most include:

• Underwriters looking to move beyond control checklists and evaluate true organizational resilience
• Claims professionals who need a deeper command of digital forensics, incident response, and coverage disputes
• Insurance product managers responsible for designing coverage solutions that reflect how cyber risk is evolving
• Brokers who want to have more informed conversations with clients, insureds, and incident response partners

Completion of the CIDFP also earns self-reporting credits toward the Cyber Professional Liability Practitioner (CPLP) designation, creating a meaningful pathway for professionals building their credentials across the PLUS education ecosystem. For organizations investing in their talent, the CIDFP represents a tangible way to develop cyber fluency at the team level, building the internal knowledge base that makes better decisions possible across every stage of the insurance lifecycle.

Registration and Pricing

Enrollment in the designation and registration for the program open and close together. Registration for 2026 is open through November 12, at which time both shut down until the next cohort in 2027.

Participants are encouraged to sign up now with early bird pricing through October 28. Registered participants will also receive a discount code for 2026 Cyber Symposium registration, where the program culminates on March 1 at an in-person milestone event.

Full program details and registration are available at PLUSweb.org.

About PLUS

The Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) has over 45,000 professional industry members from throughout North America and around the world. It is the only association created exclusively by and for the entire professional liability industry. PLUS is recognized as the primary source of professional liability educational programs and seminars, networking events, educational products and information regarding professional liability.

Membership consists of individuals in the professional liability industry representing thousands of companies active in many industry fields. Additional information can be found at PLUSweb.org and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. PLUS’s address is 5353 Wayzata Blvd, Suite 306, Minneapolis MN 55416.

For more information, please visit www.plusweb.org or call 800.845.0778.