Daily Market Update - December 11, 2014

Storms hit western coast of North America; more to come says expert… Complacent senior executives value personal data above work data… Brisbane hailstorm claims push closer to $1 million…

Risk Management News

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Storms hit western coast of North America; more to come says expert
The storms that are currently battering western parts of the US and Canada are a taste of things to come. With some areas reporting widespread flooding and power outages a Canadian climatologist says this is what climate change means. Simon Donner of the University of British Columbia says sea levels are rising by 3mm a year and unchecked this is likely to cause devastating effects for the Pacific coast. Donner tells CBC News that to not take these changing weather conditions into consideration when planning city infrastructures would be “crazy”.
 
Complacent senior executives value personal data above work data
Enlightened, Informed, Passive and Complacent; the four types of organization when it comes to the value placed by senior executives on data protection. A new survey by IT and risk management firm NTT Com Security shows that that most (82 per cent) respondents understand the importance of their data. However, levels of knowledge about that data, and the extent to which they are willing to commit IT budget to securing it, varies widely among senior business decision makers. Complacent respondents do not see data as being important to their organization and are most likely to value personal data above work data; Enlightened organisations are prepared to commit at least 10% of IT budget on securing their data and are the most likely to have completely secured all of their critical data; Passive respondents value data but do not protect it. They are most likely to admit they do not know how much of their IT budget is spent on data security, while nearly all do not know what the financial impact would be of a data security breach; Informed decision makers are more likely to be implementing data policies, with 29 per cent reporting that they are in the process of implementing a formal data security policy and more than a quarter currently implementing disaster recovery plans. 
 
Brisbane hailstorm claims push closer to $1 million
The insurance losses from the recent hailstorm in Brisbane has now topped AU$800 million (US $666,400). The Insurance Council of Australia says that so far 86,800 claims have been made including 4000 for damage to commercial premises and business, 2800 for commercial vehicles, 22,000 for residential property and 58,000 for private vehicle damage. ICA CEO Rob Whelan said insurers were focused on sending assessors to damaged homes and examining hail-damaged vehicles, many high-priority claims have now been assessed. 

 

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