En Voyage - Issue #8

Business
CYBERCRIME HIGH ON THE
AGENDA AT GUERNSEY
INSURANCE FORUM
Cybercrime losses to business and individuals are set to increase
further as a result of challenges posed by today’s far-reaching
connectivity, former FBI Head of Cyber Division James Trainor
told delegates at the Guernsey Insurance Forum in London.
Now Senior Vice President at Aon’s
Cyber Solutions Group, keynote speaker
Mr Trainor said that 2016 research by
Cybersecurity Ventures put annual losses in
this area at as much as $6 trillion, dwarfing
estimates of only two years earlier.
"There’s about six or seven billion devices
connected to the internet now. That number
could go up to 20 or even 50 billion devices
in the next three to five years," he said.
All this greater connectivity provided
more scope for criminals to carry out
denial-of-service attacks, more vectors
into networks and more opportunities to
extort funds through encrypting devices.
Mr Trainor warned there was a lack of
insurance premiums being taken out to
cover for the losses from cyber-attacks,
estimated at just around $3 billion annually.
It would be necessary for companies to
protect their network better, the insurance
industry to introduce more capital to
cover losses and the government to step
up its efforts to disrupt cybercrime.
The event, which served as a reminder of
Guernsey’s standing in the global insurance
market and provided a platform for local
industry to showcase its expertise to an offisland
audience, saw nearly 200 in attendance.
In addition to Mr Trainor’s address, the event
included two panel sessions. The first was
entitled ‘Insurance’s answer to 21st century
megatrends’ and saw Jonathan Howe,
PwC Global’s insurtech leader, recognise
the importance of collaboration between
insurance start-ups and incumbents. He
said start-ups needed the industry because
they lack vital elements such as funding,
customers and data, but at the same time
insurers needed access to the flexibility
and innovation offered by the start-ups.
LEFT-RIGHT: ROWAN DOUGLAS OF WILLIS TOWERS
WATSON, JULIA GRAHAM OF AIRMIC, JONATHAN
HOWE OF PwC, PETER VAN DEN BROEKE OF THE
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE
SUPERVISORS AND MODERATOR NAGA MUNCHETTY
86 En Voyage | Aurigny’s Magazine