Cyber risk is a major and rapidly growing threat to businesses: Cyber crimes cost the global economy an estimated $445 billion a year, and the world's top 10 economies have to bear half of this amount. This is what emerges from a report by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty.
Fewer than 10% of companies currently purchase cyber insurance, but AGCS expects cyber insurance premiums globally to rise from $2 billion a year today to more than $20 billion over the next decade, a compound annual growth rate of more than 20 %.
“Growth in the US is already underway as data protection laws push attention to this, while legislative developments and increased responsibilities will cause growth in the rest of the world,” says Nigel Pearson, chief executive officer global insurance company for cyber risk in Agcs.
The Agcs report therefore highlights the steps that companies must take to deal with cyber risks: “Even if you have purchased cyber insurance, it does not mean that you can ignore IT security – explains Jens Krickhahn, AGCS cyber & fidelity expert in Central Europe and of the East –. The technological, operational and insurance aspects of risk management go hand in hand.”
Agcs recommends a "think-tank" approach to addressing risk, so that the various stakeholders can collaborate to share experiences. In this way, various perspectives and scenarios can be examined: for example, it is possible to consider the risks posed by corporate developments such as mergers and acquisitions, or by the use of external or cloud-based services. Furthermore, the involvement between companies is essential to identify the assets mainly at risk and above all to develop and test solid crisis response plans.
