A recent article in Insurance Journal discusses what the Industry learned from 2017 hacks. he NotPetya, WannaCry and Equifax hacks of last year were evidence that the U.S. insurance industry has been ill-prepared to handle a large cyber attack and needs to up its game. However, as a consequence of the attacks in 2017, the industry and its customers may be at a tipping point in favor of better cyber readiness and coverage, according to panelists at the 2018 AIR Casualty-Cyber Seminar, held February 27 in New York City.
They also called for public officials to move beyond circa-1970s thinking about cyber and collaborate more with the private sector to mitigate the risks. The cyber experts said that a lack of experience and data are behind what they see as the industry’s underpreparedness in a constantly evolving cyber risk environment.
“The threat could come from a dozen different directions,” said panelist Brad Gow, global cyber product leader at Sompo International. “I don’t know where the threat is going to come from, but I do know that as an industry, the insurance industry really is not prepared for that.”
Panelists agreed that as ransomware attacks, in which hackers steal data or make it unreadable and refuse to provide a solution unless paid a ransom, become more prevalent, and attacks on supply chain infrastructure are expected to increase, one cause for concern is the U.S. insurance industry’s lack of experience. You can read the full article on Insurance Journal by clicking here.