The financial consequences of a cyber breach can be wide-ranging, including business interruption, forensic IT costs, supply chain disruption and intellectual property theft. Attacks have the potential to affect virtually every industry, from manufacturing, through to retail, life sciences, and healthcare - the issue is not confined to financial institutions or global brand management companies.

Three Aon experts share their perspectives on cyber risks in an increasingly connected world and how organisations need to rethink their approaches to cyber risk management and insurance.

“Cyber incidents have complex implications and are becoming increasingly common . For example, in late 2014 a European steel mill suffered huge damage resulting from hackers gaining entry to the plant’s network and causing an unscheduled furnace shutdown. Here we saw an intangible asset incident having very real implications on physical assets and business interruption . As mobile devices, cloud computing, data and analytics and ‘the internet of things’ continue to grow and become even more integral to business operations, the opportunities for cyber incidents increase at a similar pace .” 

Mark Buningh  Cyber Risk Practice Leader,  Aon Risk Solutions, Netherlands

“Some organisations think cyber insurance will have too many exclusions, or is too new, unproven or specialist. There is also a perception that quotations require a lot of time, so these perceptions are rarely challenged and organisations continue to rely on self insurance. However, cyber cover has been available for more than 15 years and getting an indication of price and exactly what is covered is relatively easy these days . Further, many aspects that EMEA organisations don’t expect to be covered (e .g . human error, third party incidents, system failures and notification costs to victims) are often included in cyber insurance policies, or can certainly be negotiated with insurers. And with a tangible proposal that can be discussed at board level, organisations can make more deliberate and informed decisions about cyber insurance, rather than leaving it ‘out of sight, out of mind’ .”
Jonathan Case  Chief Broking Officer, Aon Risk Solutions, Finland

“Almost all organisations recognise cyber as a growing concern, but many still perceive it to be a ‘new’ or unfamiliar risk. Depending on an organisation’s risk maturity, some don’t have the experience to both assess and quantify the risk effectively, nor risk manage it within their organisations. But once the risks are better understood and valued, then organisations can intelligently consider cyber solutions, risk management procedures and what an insurance policy can bring to the table.” 
Jonathan Upshall  Cyber Insurance Broking Director, London Global Broking Centre, Aon Risk Solutions, UK

Source: EMEA June 2015 - Cyber Impact Report. The increasing cyber threat - what is the true cost to business?