XL Catlin Offers Cyber & Data Protection Policy in Asia Pacific

XL Catlin announced it has launched its Cyber and Data Protection insurance policy in Asia Pacific.

With cyber risk ranking in the top 10 in today’s emerging risks, the new policy is designed to protect businesses from the increasing exposures they face from a malicious network compromise and data breach, said XL Catlin in a statement.

The insurance solution covers business interruption arising from a network compromise, associated extortion demands and first party incident response costs such as notification of the compromise of the network, forensic investigations and public relations support, the company said.

The policy also covers third-party liability costs that organizations face as a result of a data breach, including any regulatory investigation or contractual liability associated with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. (The PCI DSS is an information security standard created to increase controls around cardholder data to reduce credit card fraud.)

Additionally, it offers broad coverage for liability associated with media exposures such as copyright infringement, trademark infringement, invasion of privacy and false advertising, in both offline and online content as well as social media, the company added.

“Combining the global resources of our underwriting and claims teams with the expertise of our breach response providers, our Cyber and Data Protection insurance policy offers companies the broad cyber coverage they need under one easy-to-understand policy,” commented Timothy Powell, regional manager, International Financial Lines for XL Catlin’s Insurance business in Asia Pacific.

“We know there is a real need for this policy across Asia Pacific because as technology and digital connectivity evolve, companies are finding themselves exposed to new and more sophisticated cyber attacks,” he said.

Powell pointed to a report from Juniper Research estimated that the cost of data breaches will reach US$2.1 trillion globally by 2019, almost four times the estimated cost of breaches in 2015.

“No company is fully secure, no matter how superior its cyber defense mechanisms are. They must proactively embed cyber risk management in their strategies and operations to combat the unrelenting threat of cyber attacks,” he said.

“The rapidly changing legal environment in Asia Pacific in respect of cyber security is driving the need for organizations to look at their exposures to cyber-crimes and data compromises – which is increasing,” said David Guest, country manager for Singapore – Insurance.

“Many countries across Asia, including China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan have recently stepped up their approach, by introducing new laws or implementing more exacting standards for data and network protection,” he explained.

Robin Johnson, country manager for Australia – Insurance, discussed the fact that Australia in February passed a new law, which requires the mandatory notification of a data breach, and companies need to comply with these rules 12 months.

“While Singapore and Hong Kong have mature cyber and data protection regulatory frameworks in place, these two countries are also considering similar provisions in the near future,” said Johnson.

“With increasingly stringent regulations as well as the financial and reputational fall-out of a cyber incident, companies need to have a robust risk management strategy and the right insurance solution to protect themselves against cyber risks,” he added.

Source: XL Catlin

Topics Cyber Legislation AXA XL