Enhancing The Role Of Insurance In Cyber Risk

The role of insurance in cyber risk is becoming an increasingly vital piece of work. The core of this role is understanding that insurance is designed to protect a company against the financial damage that can be caused by the increasingly diverse range of cybersecurity threats out there today. Just a few examples of these include ransomware, hacks, data breaches, DDoS attacks and malware.

Insurance goes arm-in-arm with loss prevention. Insurers can help firms reduce their losses by providing insight from claims and near misses across their client base. That information asset is of particular value for cyber risk, because cyber is a new risk and incidents often go unreported.

Within the realm of insurance, they bring their knowledge and experience of more established risks that can be applied to cyber. There is a tendency to think of cyber as a new and hence unique threat. In fact, many aspects of it – the risk of business interruption, the potential for large and public impact, and the need for rapid response is far from new.

A panel discussion that unfolded at the CIO East Africa InsureTech event, consisting of Anthony Miuyuro, Head of Cyber Security at EY, Aprielle Moraa, MD at Infosphere, Moses Mulandi, Major Account Manager at Fortinet East Africa and James Kamweti Senior Territory account manager Zebra Technologies East Africa had a deliberation about this topic.

Moses Mulandi emphasised how insurance companies need to be clear about the risks they should undertake. From an insurance company perspective, Anthony Muyiuro emphasised how cyber diligence is important, so end to end assessments are not left out. Particularly considering how exposed the critical infrastructure may be.

Major incidents have highlighted the digital security and privacy protection risks that come with an increased reliance on digital technologies. While not a substitute for investing in cybersecurity and risk management, insurance coverage for cyber risk can make a significant contribution to the management of cyber risk by promoting awareness about exposure to cyber losses,