Cyber Insurance

Cyber insurance can help an organisation recover losses and associated costs resulting from large-scale breaches, business interruption, ransomware, and other types of cyberattacks.

Comprehensive cyber insurance coverage can provide you with resources and reimbursement for items such as legal fees, incident preparation and response support, employee training, forensics services, and breach notification services. Such insurance policies can also offer you coverage for first- and third-party costs and liabilities such as lost revenue and extra expenses, regulatory fines and penalties, data and hardware restoration and repair, and reputational harm.

Any company or public sector entity that uses technology or data faces cyber risk. The list of cyber risks challenging organisations today is expanding exponentially. Ransomware, for instance, is increasing in frequency, severity, and sophistication. But it’s just one of many cyber risks to be understood, measured, and managed.

With cyber insurance, you can create a tailored coverage program that transfers risk out of your organisation, as well as reduces balance sheet impact and volatility resulting from cyberattacks.

Having a comprehensive cyber risk insurance program in place, complemented by a risk management program, has never been more important to help your organisation appropriately manage its risk.

The cyberattacks dominating the headlines today are largely insurable. In those cases where companies bought insurance, coverage generally responded and claims generally were paid.

While terms and conditions can vary, a cyber insurance policy can include comprehensive coverage in advance of, during, and after a ransomware attack. It may cover, but is not limited to, incident response planning, breach notification services, and restoration and repair.

When it comes to cyber risk, businesses responding to a recent Marsh survey indicated they are most concerned about ransomware, regulatory risk, and supply chain risk. But only 18% of respondents indicated that they are highly prepared for cyber risk (Marsh Risk Resilience Report 2021).

Here’s what you should understand about these trends in relation to your own risk management.

• Ransomware: Ransomware attacks are increasing in frequency, severity, and sophistication. These incidents not only have the potential to shut down day-to-day operations, but can also expose your business to the legal, reputational, and financial consequences of data leaks.
• Regulatory risk: Privacy regulations are intensifying, and many organisations lack a comprehensive approach to managing them. Compliance requirements are proliferating, while fines continue to grow. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR and Notifiable Data Breach (NDB) represent a handful of the many global, regional, and industry regulations with which companies may need to comply.
• Supply chain: Attacks on the supply chain present an opportunity for an attacker to compromise many downstream organisations through a single entry point, making it an enticing target. As more organisations modernise and digitise, they open themselves up to more cyber risk.

Any organisation that uses technology or data has a cyber risk exposure. The list of cyber risks is endless, and disruptions to your business can have an enormous impact on your operations and the bottom line. But cyber, like any business risk, can be understood, measured, and managed.

When it comes to managing cyber risk and threat exposures, companies typically gravitate toward technology solutions, including security hardware and software, cyber consulting and penetration testing services, and cyber risk scorecards. However, despite spending millions, most organisations lack a true view of organisational cyber risk and its potential economic and operational impact on their business.