Quod Orbis and Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) have released a white paper report exploring the prospective future of cyber insurance, alongside the role data can play to enhance the understanding of risk.
According to the report, global cyber insurance premiums totalled $8bn in 2021, and are growing rapidly, with one estimate envisaging a market size of $28bn by 2026.
Alongside this growth comes the inevitable dilemma of increased risk. The white paper notes that global costs of Ransomware attacks were $20bn in 2021, with material breaches rising 20.5% from 2020 to 2021.
It adds that over the next two years, security executives expect further increases in attacks as nation-states and cybercriminals become more prolific.
61% of CEOs across all sectors are concerned about cyber threats, says the report, though due to the increase in business costs and insurance premiums, many businesses are questioning whether cyber insurance is financially viable.
The LSM and Quod Orbis research observes that the corporate world needs better cyber security and affordably priced cyber insurance that is supported by emerging new technology such as the Gartner recognised Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM) platforms.
The white paper adds that technologies such as CCM can provide both businesses and insurers with support in developing an all-embracing, cohesive approach to identifying risk and mitigating any threats in real time.
Matthew Hogg, Strategic Head of Cyber Underwriting at Liberty Specialty Markets, commented, “Transparency around how businesses are reacting to systemic events and cyber exposures will improve confidence levels for insurers.”
“It will enable insurers to increase cyber limits and provide more capacity in the future. Access to real-time intelligence through applications such as continuous controls monitoring means we can more accurately profile the risk.”
“Capturing real-time cyber data will allow insurers to model, interpret, and underwrite cyber risk at an individual level. This will provide long-term benefits for insureds,” he said.
Quod Orbis’ CEO, Martin Greenfield, added, “Rising costs in Cyber Security insurance coupled with an exponential rise in cyber-attacks has placed increasing pressures on business leaders. As they grapple with digitalisation, a remote workforce, cloud adoption and legacy systems they face the challenge of preventing more sophisticated cyber-attacks.”
“The development of continuous controls monitoring is certainly a hugely positive development in assuring insurance companies and businesses that they are continually monitoring their cyber landscape and IT controls in an ever-evolving environment.”
