Risk and insurance industry report urges Europe to become global leader in advancing cyber resilience

European risk and insurance industry calls for greater collaboration on cyber risk, and highlights need for coordination between all stakeholders on solutions for evolving cyber risks

The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) has released together with its industry partners a new joint report entitled ‘Cyber insurance dialogue – How Europe can lead the way to cyber resilience’ which addresses the challenges faced by all participants in the cyber insurance chain and highlights the potential for Europe to become a global leader in developing solutions for risks that cannot be covered by the private insurance market alone.

The report is the result of a pan-European, multi-stakeholder dialogue and was produced by FERMA in partnership with Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, AXA XL, HDI Global, Howden, Lloyd’s Insurance Company (Europe), Marsh, and Munich Re.

Central to the findings is the call for greater collaboration between all cyber stakeholders to achieve a balance between the risk appetite of insurers and the coverage requirements of corporate buyers to ensure a sustainable market. It also urges greater investment in identification and prevention measures, promotes the adoption of transitional coverage and continuous underwriting practices, and proposes an annual high-level international summit focused on cyber resilience.

Key recommendations of the report include:

Identification and Prevention

• For large corporates, improve identification and prevention by investing in quantification, benchmarking, and crisis management training & protocols.
• Development of common EU cybersecurity standards for the SME segment.
• Awareness-raising campaigns/tools and incentivisation schemes for SMEs to invest in cyber security controls by public authorities.

Underwriting

• Continuing to work to a more standardised baseline questionnaire to be used in underwriting discussions.
• More training on technologies embedded in business processes and the necessary security.
• Transitional coverage offering for SMEs on cybersecurity journey.
• A more continuous underwriting approach for larger corporates focusing on greater feedback.

Coverage

• Europe to become a global leader by addressing possible solution for risks that cannot be covered by private insurance market alone.
• Further discussion required around public and private cooperation to find solutions for evolving cyber risks (for example Cyber War and Systemic Risk).
• Stress-scenarios to be developed and worked on by all stakeholders (public and private).

The report also calls for broader data sharing on cyber claims and the establishment of an annual largescale cyber event which brings together stakeholders from across the insurance value chain and policymakers to address key market challenges and develop more effective cyber resilience strategies.

Philippe Cotelle, Vice President of FERMA, and Chair of the Digital Committee, said: “This report is the result of a ground-breaking pan-European dialogue across all core cyber insurance stakeholders. Our collective aim is to support the development of a bedrock of cyber resilience at the organisational level which is ably supported and enhanced by a robust, relevant, and affordable cyber insurance market and which serves to bolster the overall competitiveness of the European market.”

Typhaine Beaupérin, CEO and Secretary General of FERMA, added: “We believe that Europe can become a world leader in efforts to bolster cyber resilience. Adopting a Europe-wide, pan-stakeholder approach to address every aspect of the cyber challenge and ensuring that through ground-breaking risk-sharing initiatives we can create the depth and breadth of capacity required to bridge the cyber protection gap.”

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