Brokers need to change corporate ‘disconnect’ on cyber threats | Insurance Business America
There is a ‘disconnect’ among corporate board members regarding the perceived value of confidential data and security needed to safeguard such information, according to a recent survey, meaning brokers should step up the education of their commercial clients.
The Ponemon Institute’s 2013 survey, Exposing the Cybersecurity Cracks: A Global Perspective, was based on responses from 4,881 information technology security practitioners in Canada and 14 other countries and reveals that 56 per cent of Canadian respondents said cyber threats “sometimes fall through the cracks” of existing security measures at their firms..
“Insurance brokers would serve their clients well by providing helpful tips to reduce risk and introducing packages that would mitigate damages in the event of an attack,” Maia Espejo, the senior professional liability manager of D&O/E&O for Burns & Wilcox Canada, told Insurance Business. “Cyber Liability insurance provides both third party liability and first party computer security coverage for emerging data security and privacy exposures facing insurers today. As evidenced through the Bell Canada incident, third party liability is an important element to a comprehensive product.”
In early 2014, Bell Canada found themselves on the list of big-name companies who had become ensnared in a hacking incident, announcing that a cyber-attack on a third-party supplier compromised the confidential account information of more than 22,000 of its small business customers.
In the Ponemon Institute survey, when presented with the statement “cybersecurity threats sometimes fall through the cracks of existing security systems,” 56 per cent of Canadian respondents either strongly agreed or agreed.
Worldwide, 69 per cent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed. (continued.)