Chubb has announced that it is making its global cyber risk practice a standalone business under the leadership of Bill Stewart, who will has been named division president of the unit.

Stewart, who moves over from consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, will be responsible for leading the development and implementation of Chubb's strategy to deliver the next generation full suite of P&C cyber insurance offerings globally.

He will also work with chief information security officer David Cowart to develop Chubb's cyber security best practice.

Stewart will be based in New York and will report to Chubb Group vice chairman John Lupica.

"The number and complexity of cyber exposures have grown exponentially over the last few years," remarked Lupica.

"The decision to make our cyber risk practice a standalone business under a forward-thinking leader like Bill adds another level of depth and thought leadership to Chubb's offerings in this segment,” he added.

Working with Stewart will be Michael Tanenbaum who will lead the North America cyber practice as executive vice president and Tim Stapleton, a senior vice president and cyber product manager who is also technology practice lead for the overseas general insurance division who will lead the cyber practice outside North America.

They will both be responsible for coordinating cyber risk underwriting, services and operations in their respective regions.

Tanenbaum will report to both Stewart and North America financial lines division president Scott Meyer. Meanwhile, Stapleton will report to Stewart and P&C COO Tim O'Donnell, who is also financial lines executive vice president of overseas general insurance.

Stewart most recently served as executive vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he was responsible for the firm's commercial cyber business. He joined the company in 1989 as an information assurance business leader, before heading the commercial financial services business from 2013 to 2015 and then rising to leading the overall commercial cyber practice.