Survey shows confidence in cyber insurance
In the wake of WannaCry and other ransomware attacks, risk professionals view cyber extortion as the leading first-party exposure for their organisation.
That is one of the findings of the 2017 Rims Cyber Survey, which also showed that there is continuing confidence in stand-alone cyber insurance policies.
And this year’s data hints at “something resembling maturity” in the cyber insurance market. The survey by Rims, the risk management society, noted that “the rate of increase in stand-alone policies might be slowing because other forms of insurance coverage are picking up the slack”.
The survey showed the number of practitioners who purchased that type of cyber insurance coverage has increased only moderately this year.
Organisations with stand-alone cyber insurance policies increased 3 per cent, to 83 per cent, compared to last year. While of those without such a policy, 84 per cent indicated that other insurance policies include cyber liability coverage.
The Rims publication noted: “Those who want to buy cyber coverage have bought it, and specialty stand-alone cyber coverage is nearing saturation. In 2018 any trends along these lines will be more discernible.”
The survey found that 72 per cent of respondents transfer cyber exposures to a third-party, and increase of 4 per cent on 2016.
Business interruption and cyber extortion, at 80 and 72 per cent respectively, top the list of first-party cyber exposures, while only 34 per cent of respondents thought that the government should mandate cybersecurity standards.
“At any given moment, cyberpredators can unleash a new hack to infiltrate an organisation’s system, steal or lock critical data and cause significant business interruption damages,” said Rims president Nowell Seaman.
“Rims Cyber Survey shows that risk professionals continue to invest in cyber insurance products and must work in tandem with their insurers and IT professionals to help develop innovative and adaptable solutions for the next generation of cyber threats.”
Compared to the modest changes seen in the latest survey, last year’s survey showed more drastic changes in the management of cyber exposure than its preceding 2015 survey.
Notably, there was a sharp 29 per cent increase in the procurement of stand-alone cyber insurance than recorded in 2015, with the share rising from 51 per cent in 2015 to 80 per cent last year. Also, there was a 10 per cent increase in the number of organisations that transferred cyber exposure to a third-party from 58 per cent in 2015 to 68 per cent in 2016.
This year’s Rims Cyber Survey had 288 respondents with demographics regarding industry sector, organisation revenue and number of employees holding close to 2016 results. The survey was distributed to Rims membership via an internet link and was accepted between May 18 and June 25.
For the first 60 days, the this year’s Cyber Survey will be available to Rims members only in the Rims Risk Knowledge library. Following the introductory period it will be available to all risk professionals at www.Rims.org/riskknowledge.