Allianz launches coverage to help Canadian companies defend against rising cyber threat

Industrial insurance specialist Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) announced on Tuesday the availability of new cyber security coverage in the wake of growing cyber criminality threatening Canadian companies.

“The sheer number and evolving sophistication of security threats renders it virtually impossible for any organization to guarantee total security. Thus, effective risk transfer is an important tool for the risk manager,” Terri Mason, head of Professional Indemnity for AGCS Canada, said in a statement from AGCS, Allianz Group’s dedicated carrier for corporate and specialty insurance business.

Citing a recently released study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), sponsored by McAfee Inc., AGCS reports that cyber crime and data breaches now cost the global economy approximately $445 billion annually.

Costs also appear on the rise in line with research from Ponemon Institute, sponsored by IBM and released in May, that indicates the average cost to a company of a data breach was US$3.5 million, 15% more than what it cost last year.

But beyond costs is preparedness. Another Ponemon Institute study, this one sponsored by Websense, Inc. and released in June, found that 56% of surveyed Canadian companies said their respective organization is not protected from advanced cyber attacks, and 59% said they do not believe they have sufficient security to prevent cybercriminals from stealing corporate information.

Allianz Cyber Protect – a suite of coverages to protect a company in the event of a data loss or a cyber security incident – is worldwide cover that can range from issuing protection at short notice to tailoring solutions based on a company’s individual requirements. It includes broad business interruption capabilities, as well as access to a panel of consultants and IT experts who will work with AGCS clients to manage a cyber incident to minimize financial loss and reputational damage.

Key elements of the cover – which Allianz notes is being launched as the federal government is reviewing legislation that will better protect Canadians’ privacy and increase consumer trust in the digital economy – include the following:

• a comprehensive policy offering cover up to a limit of $75 million and covering a broad range of cyber exposures;
• three levels of business interruption cover that can be customized to a client’s unique needs; and
• immediate access to an IT crisis response team to resolve the incident with a full range of services, including IT forensic services, (such as notification services and credit monitoring services, as needed), media crisis management services and specialist legal services.

“Companies are facing attacks on a daily basis,” Mason noted. “Hackers can infiltrate small and mid-size businesses with devastating financial and reputational consequences. We have also seen criminals hacking into the systems of smaller firms as a way of ‘piggy-backing’ access to the larger companies they partner with.”