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Cyber attacks increase to record levels
The increased risk of cyber attacks is set to become the new normal, a recent report has found.
Abhranil Hazra
According to the Cyber Insurance Report by Global Insurance Law Connect (GILC), the last three to four years have seen a record rise in catastrophic losses, in part due to the pandemic, which has shifted professional and personal lives online.
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There has also been an uptick in state-sponsored cyber attacks not witnessed before, even though the majority have been committed by ransomware, the report found.
Leader of GILC’s cyber special interest group Giorgio Grasso stated that the level of possible impact on businesses from cyber criminals is becoming increasingly clear.
“These include not only threats to infrastructure, but also to the integrity, availability and confidentiality of the information we digitally capture, analyse and exchange,” he said.
“We expect that the challenges related to cyber risk will only get worse as attacks become more sophisticated and targeted.”
Sparke Helmore was the sole law firm representing Australia in the global report. Commenting off the back of the findings, partner and cyber insurance leader Jehan Mata described the Australian cyber market as “relatively immature” with only 16 insurers offering cyber insurance nationwide.
Ms Mata said Australian providers have left the majority of local businesses without cover, by either reduced cyber coverage limits, increased premiums, or removed themselves from the market.
While in the short term, insurers are likely to include caveats and provide more resources to help stakeholders with cyber attacks, Ms Mata believes they are still playing catch-up to those in other jurisdictions.
“Although individuals and organisations will have greater knowledge about cyber risks, cyber security and the relevant steps to mitigate those risks, this is likely to be outpaced by the increasing sophistication of cyber attacks,” Ms Mata added.
“As networks grow and organisations become more reliant on IT systems, it will become increasingly difficult to protect and defend individuals and organisations from cyber risks. Cyber criminals will continue to capitalise on people’s fatigue and lack of focus.
“The cyber risks associated with the metaverse (which is unregulated) are yet to be addressed, and privacy issues associated with a virtual world are likely to have a substantial impact on the cyber landscape.”
