Our information technology systems may fail or we may experience an interruption in their operation.  We may lose business if we are unable to meet our customers’ technological demands. Our information technology systems may become outdated and we may not be able to make timely modifications to support  our products and services.  The security of our information technology systems may be compromised and confidential information, including non- public personal information that we maintain, could be improperly disclosed.  We are subject to the risk of private litigation and regulatory proceedings.  Our business is highly dependent on the ef fective operation of our information technology systems. Our information  technology systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures,  computer viruses, cyber-attacks, security breaches, catastrophic events and errors in usage.  Although we have disaster recovery  and business continuity plans in place, we may not be able to adequately execute these plans in a timely fashion.  We rely on our  information technology systems for many enterprise-critical functions and a prolonged failure or interruption of these systems  for any reason could cause significant disruption to our operations and have a material adverse ef fect on our business, financial  condition and operating results.  Our ability to meet the needs of our customers is dependent on our ability to keep pace with technological advances and  to invest in new technology as it becomes available. Participants in the mortgage insurance industry rely on e-commerce and  other technologies to provide their products and services. Our customers generally require that we provide aspects of our  products and services electronically and the percentage of our NIW  and claims processing that we deliver electronically has  continued to increase. We expect this trend to continue and, accordingly , we may not satisfy our customers’  requirements if we  fail to invest sufficient resources or otherwise are unable to maintain and upgrade our technological capabilities.  This may  result in a decrease in the business we receive, which could negatively impact our profitability .  Our business is highly dependent on the ef fective operation of our information technology systems. Many of our  information technology systems have been in place for a number of years.  When we make changes to our existing products and  services, or as new products with new features emer ge, our systems require modification in order to support these products and  process transactions appropriately. Making appropriate modifications to our systems involves inherent time lags and may  require us to incur significant expenses. If we are unable to make necessary modifications to our systems in a timely and cost- effective manner or successfully upgrade our systems to avoid obsolescence of our information technology platform, our  business, financial condition and operating results could be negatively af fected.  Our information technology systems may be vulnerable to physical or electronic intrusions, computer viruses or other  attacks. As part of our business, we, and certain of our subsidiaries and af filiates, maintain large amounts of confidential  information, including non-public personal information on consumers and our employees. Breaches in security could result in  the loss or misuse of this information, which could, in turn, result in potential regulatory actions or litigation, including material  claims for damages, as well as interruption to our operations and damage to our reputation.  While we believe we have  appropriate information security policies and systems in place in order to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential  information, including non-public personal information, there can be no assurance that such use or disclosure will not occur .  Any compromise of the security of our information technology systems, or unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential  information, could subject us to liability , damage our reputation and have a material adverse ef fect on our business, financial  condition and operating results.  We currently are a party to material litigation and are subject to certain regulatory proceedings.  The cost to defend these  actions and the ultimate resolution of these matters could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition  and results of operations. In addition, there can be no assurance that additional lawsuits, regulatory proceedings and other  matters will not arise.  78