What’s New in Research & Trends? The Cyber Risk Protection Story

The gap between perception and understanding of cyber risk is the subject of Marsh & McLennan Agency’s most recent study, Managing Cybersecurity: The Cyber Risk Protection Story 2018. This report, now available through the Research tab of Carrier Management, reveals the results of a survey of 1,141 executives from small to middle-market organizations across North American.

These insights can be utilized to generate discussions around the profile of your cyber insurance clients and prospects – what concerns them, how confident are they, where are they most vulnerable?

I’m also recommending this report as a benchmark for your own perceptions of cyber risk against the survey responses, as you may find some shared concerns with these executives that transcend organization size or industry of operation. You can ponder these questions before reading as follow:

• Where do you rank cyber risk in order of risk management priorities? (page 3)
• What is your organization’s status with regard to cyber insurance? More importantly, do you know if it meets your needs? (page 4-5)
• How confident are you in your organization’s ability to respond to a cyber incident and which type of incident poses the greatest threat? (page 5)
• Which threat actors concern you most? How does your organization measure your risk exposure? (page 6)

Other interesting findings contained within the report:

• Marsh & McLellan Agency compares results from this survey to one focused upon larger employers and illustrates the similarity in perceived vulnerabilities, regardless of organization size. (page 7)
• A comparison of steps taken to address cyber risk by both small/medium and large organizations. (page 8)
• Status of and drivers behind cyber insurance policy acquisition. (page 9)

The underlying message of this report is that while the executives surveyed are clearly concerned about cyber risk, they do not understand the range of options available to improve their security profile. Further, while concerns are high, executives are not adequately informed of the cyber insurance coverage obtained and/or adequacy of coverage. This may be viewed as both an opportunity and challenge in your marketing efforts toward the small to middle market.

I recommend this report, and if interested in more content on this topic, access a complete listing of cyber risk content, using our topic search feature. Check our Research tab regularly for additions to our library, or sign up for our newsletter and receive updates every Friday directly in your inbox.