It was great to be in the company of the Rt.Hon. The Lord Mayor of London, Peter Estlin, last night as he hosted a debate on the future of cyber insurance at Mansion House.
The liveliest debate on the panel swirled around clarity of coverage in insurance products and how new sources of data can help insurers be unambiguous about where coverage is offered - and at what price.
Jason Harris (AXA XL's global P&C CEO) said that until the insurance industry as a whole is "crystal clear" on where coverage is granted for cyber attacks, the industry will continue to suffer a reputation for not paying cyber claims, that is "not warranted".
He continued that standalone cyber insurance "works well" and is "clear in cover and clear in its intent". The contention arises when claims are made against non-affirmative policies, where coverage is not clear.
So, how can the industry move forward in offering more clear, affirmative cover at an appropriate price? Yes, that old chestnut: more data.
Luke Foord-Kelcey (Aon Reinsurance Solutions' International Head of Cyber) questioned whether "more data" in itself would lead to efficient policy wordings and pricing.
"You have to question how relevant more historical data could be for cyber risk. We need to gather more forward-looking data for this type of risk," he told the group of insurance professionals and buyers at Mansion House.
At CyberCube, we couldn't agree more. Cyber is a risk that knows no geographical or industry boundaries. The types of attack that could devastate the global economy - and the insurance industry - are constantly morphing and exploiting new vulnerabilities that have no precedent.
In order to structure meaningful products and price them prudently, insurers need to be able to formulate a forward-looking view of risk, using new data sets not currently analysed in natural catastrophe insurance.
Targeted and structured data selection will produce better results than just fishing for insured loss data or casting a wide net and trawling the data lake.
CyberCube’s deep bench of cybersecurity and insurance experts select a unique blend of data and turn it into early indicators of risk. CyberCube has access to data from both inside and outside the firewall, including exclusive access to telemetry from the world’s largest cybersecurity firm, Symantec.
We are delighted that the insurance industry continues to search for meaningful sources of data to inform their cyber offerings. That way, we grow this sector for the long term.
