Why businesses should consider cyber risk insurance

The reliance that businesses have on technology is growing, and with it has the prominent field of cyber risk insurance. As the specialist business insurance broker of many New Zealand enterprises, Bonded Insurance has established relations with providers of cyber risk coverage.

As our digital footprint grows, the risk of a commercial cyber-attack has gone from a question of if, to when. New Zealand businesses must continue to evolve with the global digital world, developing cybersecurity measures to match developing technology.

New technology means new avenues for cybercrime
Ransomware, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and state-backed cyberwarfare already common occurrences both here and abroad, but with new technology comes new vulnerabilities. Hackers will try to exploit the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and industrial control systems. As time goes on, these new innovations will become integrated into your business operations, bringing both the good and the bad.

Cyber risk insurance overcomes the challenges of new innovation
With almost one in five NZ SME’s being targeted by a cyberattack and an average financial loss of $19,000, it has become quite clear that cybercrime is a real and serious threat.

New Zealand’s geographical isolation has perhaps made us complacent in the face of relentless and invasive global cyber activity. With a cyber-attack only a click of a button away, our status as an island nation at the bottom of the world provides us with no defence or security.

A paper from Delta Insurance cites New Zealand as one of the ‘Cyber Five’ countries that are nine times more vulnerable to cyberattacks than any other APAC economies.

With the intensity and number of cyber incidents increasing daily, coupled with the constant growth in our digital footprints, there is now a growing recognition of the enormity of the existing and emerging threats that face our commercial operations.

A number of initiatives are underway to develop a robust cybersecurity infrastructure, but it’s ultimately up to each individual business in New Zealand to make sure they have the appropriate risk management strategies in place to minimise the impact of an inevitable cyberattack.

It’s no longer an option to sweep cyber risk under the rug.
Instead, companies need to plan to adapt and overcome the liability of a cyber-attack and the damages it could cause for your company.

At Bonded, we’re passionate about helping our customers to adopt robust cyber risk strategies to ensure they are comprehensively covered before, during and after any cyber incident. Feel free to get in touch with your insurance provider to learn more, and the team at Bonded are always here to field any questions you may have.