Insurance firms will have to mandatorily appoint a Chief Information Security Officer by the 30th of this month, whose main job would be ensuring data protection. The Officer will be responsible for articulating and enforcing the policies to protect their information assets and formation of Information Security Committee.<br/><br/>This is part of sector regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) cyber security guidelines. Irdai, in a circular, said the guidelines will be implemented in series, the first phase of which begins on the 30th April and complete a full circle by March-end next year.<br/><br/>The guidelines entail data, applications, operating systems and network layers. Security audit and legal aspects on cyber security are other aspects of the guidelines.