Gallagher has warned Australian organisations that the escalating conflict between Ukraine and Russia might trigger cyberattacks that could impact organisations around the world.
Over the last weeks, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has seen heightened cyber risk worldwide following Russia's cyberattacks against several Ukrainian financial services businesses, government websites, and media outlets.
While details of the attacks are still unfolding, Gallagher expressed concerns on the potential for attacks to spread to networks beyond Ukraine, whether intentionally or not, and whether Russia will take direct aim at Ukrainian allies.
“The potential for cyber threats to global organisations is compounded by the fact that Ukraine has emerged as a major provider of critical information technology services in recent years,” Gallagher said.
Read more: Russia's Ukraine invasion: The insurance implications
Last month, Honan Insurance Group (Honan) issued the same warning, noting that more than 100 international companies from the Fortune 500 list are clients of Ukraine IT companies, including Google, IBM, Amazon, Boeing, and Visa.
“From an insurance perspective, most cyber policies contain broad form exclusions from losses resulting from Acts of War, but insurers generally do not apply them to cyberattacks stemming from overseas threat actors,” said Poppy Foxton, national head of corporate insurance and risk solutions at Honan.
Gallagher urges Australian organisations to adopt an enhanced cyber security position amid the heightened threat environment presented by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, including:
“As our clients navigate the cyber insurance application process and policy renewal cycle, they should be aware of the rapidly evolving cyber insurance products which may impact the scope of insurance coverage. The war in Ukraine is likely to accelerate cyber insurers' focus on the war exclusion,” Gallagher said.
