Companies warned to step up cyber security to become ‘insurable’>
Computer Weekly – Bill Goodwin
According to insurers, the cost of cyber risks insurance has rocketed as demand for cover outstrips supply.

Their comments came as the World Economic Forum (WEF) published its Global risk report 2023, which identifies widespread cyber attacks and cyber insecurity as one of the top 10 risks facing governments and organisations over the next 10 years.

That means, in future, companies may not be able to find cover for risks such as ransomware, malware or hacking attacks.

Managing cyber risk cannot be left to chief information security officers (CISOs) – it requires collaboration across a whole organisation.

That means collaborative effort between the risk function, the finance function, HR, the CISO, and the rest of the IT team.

John Scott, head of sustainability risk at Zurich Insurance Group, said that with the move to cloud services, increased digitisation and ransomware attacks increasing, it is not surprising that the cost of cyber insurance has risen.

It is “astonishing”, said Scott, that many companies have not put basic IT security protection in place, such as ensuring software is regularly patched and using two-factor authentication. He pointed out that organisations should also be working with their suppliers and datacentres to make sure that their supply chains are protected from cyber attacks.

With organisations facing multiple simultaneous problems, from rising energy costs, rising prices and disruption to supply chains, Klint said that it makes sense to solve problems to gain both short-term and long-term benefits.

Spending more on cyber security, for example, will also give organisations greater resilience to survive other shocks, such as failures in the supply chain.
Link: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252529132/Companies-warned-to-step-up-cyber-security-to-become-insurable