This deal places EC-Council inside an insurance education market that struggles to keep pace with the risks brokers end up asked to place. In the deal, CIA will continue to operate under its own brand and leadership as an EC-Council company.
CIA has rebuilt its Certified Cyber Insurance Specialist (CCIS) designation as CCIS v2. It added modules on AI-driven threats, AI governance, and the coverage exposures that AI creates across insurance portfolios.
The Insurance Services Office released generative AI exclusion endorsements in January 2026. Additionally, some carriers introduced AI sublimits. Brokers who cannot speak to those requirements are losing ground in client conversations.
Cyber Risk Professionals
“The knowledge gap we’ve identified is holding the market back from reaching maturity and making products profitable,” said Guy Simkin, CIA’s co-founder and chief executive. “Every insurance professional is now a technology risk professional, whether they realize it or not. Cyber is where we started, not where we stop.”
Simkin will continue leading the organization under EC-Council.
In its history, EC-Council certified over 400,000 professionals across 174 countries, making it one of the largest cybersecurity credentialing organizations.
In the deal, EC-Council gains a dedicated insurance education business with accreditation and relationships across the broker and underwriter community. CIA, in turn, gains access to EC-Council’s technical infrastructure, global network, and ongoing threat intelligence. Course material can end up- updated as threat actors evolve rather than waiting on external content sourcing.
“The technologies influencing insurance risk are evolving rapidly, and the industry needs education that evolves with them,” said Asaf Armoni, CIA’s co-founder and chief technology officer. “EC-Council brings the technical depth and scale that allow us to expand our capabilities while staying focused on what insurance professionals need to make informed decisions.”
Beyond CCIS v2, CIA will expand its portfolio into AI risk and emerging technology risk – covering areas such as autonomous systems and quantum computing – as well as role-based technology education designed for non-technical insurance professionals.
The acquisition reflects a wider industry shift away from carrier-sponsored training and toward formal, accredited credentials.
“Cyber Insurance Academy brings deep insurance expertise to that equation,” said Jay Bavisi, EC-Council’s founder and group chief executive. “Together, we can help build the technology fluency the insurance industry increasingly needs as cyber, AI and emerging technologies reshape the risk landscape.”