Can you insure against a cybersecurity disaster?

Every organization is exposed to a greater or lesser degree of cyber risk, depending on the role IT plays in the business. That risk has the potential to cause a cybersecurity disaster. Cyber insurance is a relatively new phenomenon, but it has the potential to generate significant improvements in cyber risk management across all organizational groups. Cyber insurance may play an important part in helping business and governments avoid cybersecurity disasters that many have predicted. To learn more, read the full paper, "Can You Insure Against a Cybersecurity Disaster?"

In management terms, risks can be approached in a number of different ways. Dealing with cyber risk can involve detecting and taking action against threats, identifying and resolving vulnerabilities, and managing incidents. This is the approach IT departments and security functions tend to take — using security controls to reduce or eliminate the elements of risk.

The wise business approach, however, may be to transfer the risk to a third party. This enables you to exploit business opportunities rather than avoid them, without accepting the risk involved. It follows that transferring risk is a significant business tool and an effective component of cyber risk management. It is important to make cyber risk a business issue and treat it as a regular operational risk, and not let it be seen by the board as a specialist matter to be dealt with by IT and security functions.

DXC Technology is engaged in discussions with a number of cyber insurance companies concerning ways in which we can engage more fully with clients in helping them understand their cyber risk — and the steps they need to take to manage and mitigate it.

Let us assist with your annual reviews of security capability maturity, in connection with insurance renewals. Use our expert consultants to design solutions for cybersecurity risk issues, such as data loss, secure information and event management, and application security. We also provide forensic services, following cyberbreaches, to assist with claims management.

Read the full paper to learn:

How to better understand cyber risk
What benefits cyber insurance offers
What challenges exist in cyber insurance