Asian organisations are behind when it comes to cyber risk management, with many not having the fundamentals in place, said Lloyd's CEO Inga Beale at the recent Lloyd's Asia cyber risk seminar held in Singapore.
Risk managers in the region understand tangible risks but evaluating threats like business interruption and reputation impacts, which come with cyber breaches, is more difficult. At the same time, pressure on companies to deal with cyber threats is intensifying.
Beale said, “One of the things that are holding companies back from purchasing cyber insurance isn’t not recognising that cyber is a risk for them, but not recognising what insurance can do.”
However, it was noted that there is a growing amount of cyber insurance being purchased. Beale concluded by saying there were increasing signs that cyber incidents may have an impact on how ratings agencies assess one’s business and adjust credit ratings downwards based on knowledge of damaging cyber incidents such as data theft and loss.
Lloyd’s launched 15 new cyber products last year and up to 77 of its syndicates planning to write cyber. Lloyd’s estimated that cyber premiums will amount to over US$1 billion for Lloyd’s, which is a 40% increase this year over last year.
