Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Insurers, U.K. government working to improve cyber security

Reprints
Insurers, U.K. government working to improve cyber security

LONDON — The U.K. government and a group of leading insurers pledged Wednesday to work together to find ways to better improve cyber security and to develop cyber insurance products and services available for businesses.

At the meeting hosted in London by Marsh Ltd. and Francis Maude, the U.K. Minister for the Cabinet Office with responsibility for U.K. cyber security strategy, 12 insurers agreed to work with the government to develop the market for cyber insurance in the United Kingdom.

During the meeting, working groups were established to examine ways to raise awareness of cyber risks, ways to encourage underwriters to take on the risks, the challenges of modeling cyber risks in order to underwrite them properly, and the effect of long-tail risks posed by cyber attacks and how they might best be managed and mitigated, among other things, said Mark Weil, CEO for the U.K. and Ireland at Marsh, during a briefing following the meeting.

The group will reconvene in December, and the results of the working groups' investigations are due in April 2015, Mr. Maude said.

Mr. Maude said that while insurance was not a substitute for risk management, it could act as a driver for compliance and risk management.

He added that London should be a center for knowing how to drive good practice and price cyber risk.

One aim of the collaboration is to encourage greater sharing of information about cyber attacks in order to provide insurers with data that they can use to help model and price risks, Mr. Weil said.

Ace Ltd., Aegis Ltd., American International Group Inc., Allianz S.E., Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd., Barbican Insurance Group, Brit P.L.C., CFC Underwriting Ltd., Hiscox Ltd., Lloyd's of London, XL Group P.L.C. and Zurich Insurance Group Ltd.

London-based Airmic Ltd., the U.K. risk management association, also took part, as did Marsh

Several other insurance companies have also agreed to join the effort, Mr. Weil said.

Read Next