Cyber Risks – Shipping needs a new Policy wording
We were invited to present to the 5th Asia Marine Insurance Conference in Hong Kong during Hong Kong Maritime Week on Cyber Risks in Shipping.
Cyber Risks Presentation to Asia Marine Insurance Conference, November 2017
We took the opportunity to invite the audience of insurers to create a marine cyber product, focused on the shipping market. We believe operators need a clear, fit for purpose, product that accounts for the specifics of the shipping industry but, critically, includes a Response Consultant that understands the industry.
We believe that the shipping industry’s needs for an insurance solution to Cyber Risks are similar to Marine Kidnap & Ransom – it was a previously unknown risk that operators hadn’t experienced; everyone was at risk (in this case, everyone trading through the Indian Ocean); it wasn’t just a financial risk – the key was the capability to respond to an attack which didn’t exist within the vast majority of operators; focused risk management was a key component of reducing attacks; and, insurers were able to provide a marine solution that developed as the risk developed.
If we apply this to Cyber Risks, the marine insurance market should be creating a fit for purpose policy that compliments existing risk management platforms (BIMCO for example), provides financial protection, but also provides a full response consultant in the event of a successful attack. Cyber attacks expose unprepared Insureds to legal, commercial and (ever more importantly) PR issues that existing insurers or policies are simply not designed to respond to. Existing Cyber policies are often based on non-marine wordings that require a great deal of amendments. Where there is cover within marine wordings policies, it’s disparate and spread across a range of policies without any single, central, claims response infrastructure that accounts for the specific issues arising.
We are continuing to work with the insurance market to create that policy as we consider there is a real need and the insurance market has the capability to provide this.
Contact us to find out more.