Comprehensive cyber risk insurance

With the growing complexity of cyber attacks and so many threats to contend with —from data theft and hacking to espionage, sabotage and more — cyber crime is a major risk for companies, organisations and governments around the world. Global insurance company Allianz has teamed with Thales to develop comprehensive cyber insurance coverage that limits the costs generated by a cyber attack and helps organisations to quickly get back to business as usual.

Presented at the launch event for the CYSPA alliance in France (see box), the cyber insurance solution was put together by Alliance with expert insights from Thales cybersecurity professionals. It is one way of coping with the random nature of a cyber attack, which can happen at any time even if an organisation has put measures in place to protect its information systems from potential attack.

It's clearly vital to protect your information systems. The steps you take will likely be part of a comprehensive cybersecurity policy combining IT security, employee training and accountability, and robust processes to improve resilience so your organisation can continue working or quickly get back to business after an attack. But those measures still may not be enough.

Cyber crime figures

Absolute protection from the risk of a cyber attack simply doesn't exist. The threat environment is constantly changing, so whatever measures you take, there is technically no way to achieve zero risk. Also, in many cases, attacks leave no immediate trace and you may not even know you've been targeted until some time after the attack. Vulnerabilities abound, including both technical and organisational factors. And the indirect consequences are usually much worse than the direct damage caused by cyber attackers.

To cover cyber risk, insurance companies need to map the consequences of cybersecurity incidents. Allianz turned to Thales to provide the cybersecurity expertise it needed to define the insurable risks included in its comprehensive cyber package.

The Allianz Cyber Data Protect policy defines a cyber attack as any instance of unauthorised access to digital data, or the destruction, loss, modification or release of such data by accident or through human error, criminal or malevolent act, or the failure of any hardware or software component.

The same insurance policy covers the costs incurred by the policy holder in the event of a cyber attack and handles any claims by third parties.

Allianz Cyber Data Protect protects organisations from losses incurred during or after a cyber attack. The solution is also part of Thales's end-to-end approach to cybersecurity, which leverages a unique set of skills to establish the right cyber strategy for each organisation.

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