What Insurers Can Learn From Cyber Attacks of 2017

Cyber exposure is an unwelcome reality faced by commercial
organizations worldwide. It’s one of the fastest growing risks in
the world as businesses become more interconnected, data-
driven and reliant upon technology.

Events in 2017 pushed cyber security issues into the limelight.
Huge hacks highlighted the shocking vulnerability of our personal
information as well as the agility of cyber criminals. Hackers
targeted consumer’s personal data, hospitals, voting records,
school districts and more. While some breaches largely impacted
US consumers, others, like the WannaCry ransomware attack,
spanned more than 150 countries. Its malicious strain affected
more than 300,000 computer systems across businesses
worldwide and racked up considerable business interruption
losses.

Global insurer Chubb is a top provider in America’s increasingly
active cyber insurance market. It offers a consistent level of cyber
protection through three distinct avenues of cyber coverage:
standalone, packaged products, and via its executive
management package products. The company’s cyber
policyholders have experienced the events of 2017 and, as a
result, Chubb has identified several key areas to focus on as it
continues to underwrite cyber risk.

“Some of the larger macro-level cyber events of 2017 have
brought to life the reality and acceptance that there’s significant
aggregate risk associated with cyber,” said Bobbie Goldie, senior
vice president, Chubb. “We look at those bad-day scenarios, stay
tuned into everything that happens, and apply all of that
knowledge of claims and external observations to our systemic
and aggregate risk modeling.”

“At Chubb, we always look to evolve and adapt our cyber suite
and risk management services based on what we learn from an
analysis of industry data and our own extensive database of
proprietary claims information. We apply what we learn from
our claims and use that knowledge to provide helpful
underwriting questions, targeted services and value-added
solutions for our clients and partners.”

The cyber focus for Chubb moving forward continues to revolve
around the basics, regardless of company size or industry:
making sure businesses accept and understand cyber risk;
educating them around the tools and technologies used to
mitigate that risk, including risk transfer; and making sure
organizations can implement these tools, as well as cyber
response plans.

“My advice for insurance brokers selling cyber insurance is to
simplify the risk transfer conversation, be willing and able to talk
through the mitigation tools that often accompany cyber
insurance policies, and also be prepared to provide real claim
examples,” Goldie told Insurance Business. “With cyber risk
management, there’s always an element of going back to the
basics.”

“You have to answer questions like: what does this cyber policy
insure for? What value-added services accompany a policy (if
any)? What do you need to do in the event of a cyber claim ? At
Chubb, we partner with our cyber insurance clients to make sure
they understand developing exposures and walk them through
pre- and post-breach scenarios so they’re in the best position to
implement risk management of their cyber risk.”