Indian risk managers rate cyber risk as top concern but lack awareness about cyber attacks against their own companies: Marsh survey

Mumbai, India, June 23, 2014: The majority of risk and insurance professionals in India are unaware of whether or not their organisation has been a victim of cyber attacks in the past three years despite a majority of them considering such attacks to be a top concern, according to a survey conducted by Marsh India Insurance Brokers Pvt Ltd (Marsh India).

A survey of more than 150 risk and insurance professionals from a wide range of industries, conducted at Marsh’s inaugural Digital Threats Conference in Mumbai, found that risk managers are concerned about the perceived threat of cyber attacks on their organisations, with 55% naming the risk as a “top concern” for their organisation, with 44% indicating concerns have increased significantly over the past 12 months.

Asked to identify the top worry stemming from a cyber attack or data breach, 43% said that reputation damage was their main concern, followed by financial loss (30%), lawsuits (16%), and regulatory action or loss of license (9%).

However, despite cyber risk concerns within organisations, only 21% of companies indicated they currently purchase stand-alone cyber liability insurance. The low take-up rate of this insurance could be related to lack of awareness, with 55% indicating they are not familiar with cyber insurance.

Marsh India CEO Sanjay Kedia, said, “These results demonstrate a concerning low level of understanding within the Indian risk and insurance professional community, which is exactly why Marsh hosted this Digital Threats event. The reliance on technology, systems, and web platforms in today’s business environment means companies cannot afford to treat cyber security as a peripheral consideration that can be outsourced to third-party security providers or left to the responsibility of the company’s IT department.”

Mr Kedia added: “This issue needs to be led by the board, with accountability throughout all levels of the organisation. Developing a holistic strategy that nurtures awareness and a firm grasp of exposures, dependencies, and liabilities would be the key to manage this.”