WomenCorporateDirectors and Marsh & McLennan’s Global Risk Center Explores Cyber Insurance Coverage as a Growing Risk Hedge Against Cyber Attacks
Lisa Stella, MBA
Executive Director at The Lighthouse for the Blind of the Palm Beaches
NEW YORK – March 19, 2018/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – The jump in cyber attacks is challenging how boards approach risk management and their readiness to handle emerging threats, says WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD) and Marsh & McLennan Companies’ Global Risk Center new joint report, Cyber Risk Management Response and Recovery.
“With increasing threats of attack on their data and systems, boards are demanding much moreinformation about their organizations’ risk and how well they are covered against loss and breaches,” says Susan C. Keating, CEO of WCD.
As the annual global economic cost of cyber-crime skyrockets, WCD has teamed up with Marsh & McLennan’s Global Risk Center to explore hot-button issues for directors in the area of cybersecurity, including expanding regulatory requirements and boards’ heightened responsibility to oversee new risks.
Marsh & McLennan’s Global Risk Center interviewed WCD corporate directors to identify how companies are addressing cyber threats and the use of cyber insurance. “As the global regulatory landscape becomes more complex, cyber security is gaining increased board level attention,” said Elisabeth Case, U.S. Cyber Advisory Leader, Marsh, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies. “Boards are definitely stepping up their oversight.”
Despite this, the report found that directors are still challenged by factors that they believe put their companies at greater risk:
· Director-level experts are thin on the ground – Most boards have only one director serving as the tech or cyber expert; few directors “grew up digital,” and they now have to play catch-up to the sophisticated technology used in attacks.
· Lack of benchmarking on security practices – Companies are unclear on how they stack upagainst their peers, leaving a lot of unanswered questions about best practices, business models, and geographies.
About WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc.
The WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc. (WCD) is the only global membership organization and community of women corporate directors. A 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization, the WCD Foundation has 80 chapters around the world. The aggregate market capitalization of public companies on whose boards WCD Foundation members serve is over $8 trillion. In addition, WCD Foundation members serve on numerous boards of large private and family-run companies globally. For more information visit www.womencorporatedirectors.org or follow us on Twitter @WomenCorpDirs, #WCDboards. The WCD Global Institute will be held May 8-10, 2018, in New York.
About the March & McLennan Companies’ Global Risk Center
Marsh & McLennan Companies’ Global Risk Center addresses the most critical challenges facing enterprise and societies around the world. The center draws on the resources of Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer, and Oliver Wyman – and independent research partners worldwide – to provide the best consolidated thinking on these transcendent threats.