MGA : TPA
CYBER SECURITY IN INSURANCE
INSURERS ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE DANGERS POSED TO THEIR CLIENTS BY CYBER ATTACKS , BUT HOW FAMILIAR IS THE INDUSTRY ITSELF WITH THE MOST COMMON CYBER THREATS ?
WRITTEN BY : ALEX CLERE
T he insurance industry is keenly aware of the fallout from cyberattacks . After all , insurers provide coverage for some of the largest players in other sectors who may be particularly prone to scammers and fraudsters , intent on disrupting business and stealing either data or money . But how much is the insurance industry doing to protect itself against attack , and how will the current economic situation affect the resilience of insurers and insurtechs to fend off cyber events ?
What cyber threats should insurtechs be aware of ? The most common threats to insurance carriers and insurtechs include email phishing scams , ransomware attacks , data exfiltration and dedicated denial of service ( DDoS ) attacks . Insurance companies hold vast amounts of personal data , including sensitive financial data , meaning that any cyberattack could potentially have catastrophic consequences both for them as an organisation and for their customers . It ’ s no surprise that the finance and insurance industries are a target . As well as the potential for unmitigated data losses , certain types of cyber events , like malware infections and DDoS attacks , have the
82 September 2022