Are we ready for cyber catastrophes?

Rebecca Bole, head of strategic engagement at Cyber Cube, set the scene by outlining the scale of the challenge, while Caspar Stops, cyber underwriting manager at Aviva, stressed the industry’s readiness to respond.

Stops said if thousands of customers called Aviva tomorrow after a cyber attack, there is a plan that has been tested, and the provider could aid all policyholders.

Alana Muir, head of cyber at Hiscox UK, highlighted the balance of responsibility when it comes to improving the nation’s resilience from online criminals.

She said: “The UK government are doing a lot of work on critical infrastructure but, at the same time, there is a large private sector trying to grapple with this risk that is the backbone of the economy.

“If we are to take advantage of everything that technology has to offer, our security needs to be solid.”

Aidan Flynn, head of cyber underwriting management at Beazley, pointed to the fragility exposed by recent events.

Flynn said: “I have seen three notable catastrophe events every year in recent times, all different to one another in nature, but highly operational fragility in key sectors.

“These single vulnerabilities can cascade across industries because of software supply chains and cloud dependencies.

“According to the government’s own research nearly 50% of businesses have suffered some sort of cyber event over the last 12 months.”

Anthony Cordonnier, global co-head of cyber at Guy Carpenter, considered whether government backstops, similar to Pool Re and Flood Re, are required for the cyber market.

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