Hiscox launches cyber training for London brokers
Unique course offers insight into growing risk.
As organisations face an ever-growing threat from ransomware attacks and data breaches, Hiscox is launching a new programme aimed at helping insurance brokers advise businesses on the challenges confronting them in today’s digital economy.
Cyber risk now ranks as one of the biggest threats organisations say they face, but many admit they don’t feel properly equipped to manage that threat. Criminals are launching more attacks on businesses than ever and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes in late May, imposes tougher new responsibilities on organisations.
“Executives are being told that if they’re not careful the cyber monster will come to get them,” says Matt Webb, Hiscox’s Cyber Chief Underwriting Officer. “But I think most would confess they don’t really know what it is or what it might do to their businesses.”
Cyber risk now ranks as one of the biggest threats organisations say they face, but many admit they don’t feel properly equipped to manage that threat.
Nearly three-quarters of the organisations surveyed in the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2018 failed our cyber readiness test, and nearly half (45%) suffered at least one cyber attack in the past year.
The average cost of a cyber incident has jumped in the past year, from $102,314 to $1.05 million for large US organisations, according to a comparison of the 2017 and 2018 Cyber Readiness Reports, although for some the bill was as high as $25 million.
The increasing cost of cyber crime means the market for insurance cover is set to rapidly expand, as more business look for protection.
The increasing cost of cyber crime means the market for insurance cover is set to rapidly expand, as more business look for protection. It is forecast to grow by over 25% each year for the next ten years, to over $37 billion in premiums by 2027, according to research by Visiongain.
That is likely to put a growing strain on insurers and brokers to recruit enough people to meet the jump in demand. Hiscox’s new initiative is aimed at addressing that emerging skills gap. “Better education is needed to ensure the cyber market’s sustainable growth and to bring through fresh new talent,” says Webb.
Better education is needed to ensure the cyber market’s sustainable growth and to bring through fresh new talent
The Hiscox Cyber Training Programme (CTP) has been designed to help cyber insurance brokers with less than three years experience get to grips with the rapidly evolving cyber threat and help them to provide the best advice to their clients on how to protect themselves. The unique interactive course will give participants an insight into the information security challenges faced by organisations and insurance market players alike.
The seven-week course will provide 30 cyber insurance brokers from across the London Market with a comprehensive understanding of information security. Sessions include a cyber security desktop exercise, in which participants will discover first hand how a cyber incident unfolds and how businesses should respond. Participants will also get an insight into how insurers assess cyber risk to calculate a premium and how they avoid accumulating too much risk.
The seven-week course will provide 30 cyber insurance brokers from across the London Market with a comprehensive understanding of information security.
The programme will culminate with a Dragon’s Den-style session in which participants will be expected to put to the test the new skills they’ve learned during the course.
“We hope they will find the course informative and entertaining, but also challenging. It’s an investment in the future for an emerging risk in which the London Market is already rapidly becoming a world leader,” says Webb.
