Buyers urged to better articulate cyber risks
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LONDON — Insurance buyers need to better articulate the cyber risks that their organizations face to secure coverage outside of the narrow bands available in the market, a leading cyber insurance broker said during a panel discussion Wednesday.
There is about $1 billion in global premium capacity to underwrite cyber risks and about 30 insurers in the London market alone that offer cyber capacity, said Stephen Wares, cyber risk practice leader for Europe, Middle East and Africa for Marsh Ltd. during a panel discussion in London organized by British-American Business.
But most cyber-related insurance responds only to a loss of personal information, he said. Insurers are willing to underwrite the risk because there is a specific trigger and they can quantify losses, Mr. Wares said.
Wider business risks associated with cyber exposures usually are excluded from the coverage.
To obtain more comprehensive coverage, buyers should produce detailed cyber impact studies to show insurers what coverage might be appropriate, he said.
“Insurance buyers need to be much more articulate about the drivers for buying insurance and what the risk drivers are,” Mr. Wares said.
Adriane Lapointe, senior policy advisor from the Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues of the U.S. Department of State in Washington, urged businesses to engage in public-private efforts to share information about cyber risks.
The U.S. government is extremely interested in so-called “cyber capacity building,” she said, whereby global resilience to threats will be built up using knowledge and shared experiences.
“This has to be multistakeholder,” she said during the panel discussion.
