Panelists speaking at the 2018 AIR Casualty-Cyber Seminar, held Feb. 27 in New York City, expressed concern that the U.S. insurance industry is underprepared to experience a large cyber attack, pointing to the NotPetya, WannaCry and Equifax hacks of last year as examples of how the industry’s handling of cyber threats needs to change.
Executive Summary
U.S. insurers are underprepared for a large cyber attack, say panelists at the 2018 AIR Casualty-Cyber Seminar, warning that as ransomware attacks become more prevalent and attacks on supply chain infrastructure are expected to increase, one cause for concern is the U.S. insurance industry's lack of experience.“The threat could come from a dozen different directions,” said panelist Brad Gow, global cyber product leader at Sompo International. “I don’t know where the threat is going to come from, but I do know that, as an industry, the insurance industry really is not prepared for that.”
Panelists agreed that as ransomware attacks, in which hackers steal data or make it unreadable and refuse to provide a solution unless paid a ransom, become more prevalent, and attacks on supply chain infrastructure are expected to increase, one cause for concern is the U.S. insurance industry’s lack of experience.
