Canadian Underwriter

Cyber risks “much more than just privacy risks”: CIP Society Symposium


April 16, 2018   by Greg Dalgetty, Editor


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Photo copyright: 123RF.com/Maksim KabakouData breaches at Equifax and Uber may have made headlines, but it’s not just companies with sensitive personal information that are at risk of cyber attack.

“The focus and the interest amongst clients has really shifted away from those with significant privacy exposures,” says Catherine Evans, vice-president of financial and professional liability at Marsh Canada. “Where we are seeing new conversations is with clients and organizations that don’t have privacy exposure beyond that of their own employees.”

Related: How procuring cyber insurance boosts resiliency: ICRMC 2018

Speaking at a panel discussion on cyber risks at the Insurance Institute’s CIP Society Symposium in Toronto last week, Evans pointed to several industries outside of the retail, financial and healthcare sectors where cyber insurance is gaining ground.

“Manufacturing firms, mining firms, energy firms—firms that the traditional cyber policy hasn’t held a lot of appeal for because it didn’t provide a lot of value,” she said. “What is driving them to consider the cover is operational disruption compensation, and the idea that cyber risks are so much more than just privacy risks.”

Evans said that while the insurance industry has typically focused on privacy risks when it comes to selling cyber insurance, they’re just one aspect of a multi-faceted threat.

“We’re getting a lot of interest and a lot of conversation from clients saying, ‘I don’t care about the privacy piece. If I could buy a cyber policy that didn’t include any privacy liability component, that would be fine with me. What I’m more interested in is how can these products help me if my operation is shut down because of some sort of ransomware attack and I can’t access anything?’”

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This story was originally published by Canadian Insurance Top Broker.


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