By Ebere Nwoji
Business operators have been advised to priorities cyber risk insurance as part of risk mitigation system.
The Executive Director, General Business, Leadway Assurance, Adetola Adegbayi, who gave the advice during webinar on the rising incident of cyber-risk organised by her company, said this became necessary especially now that business operations are delicately hinged on remote accesses.
“The shrewdness of the company’s management over the years has informed several innovations that would soothe any impending crisis in businesses and individual lives.
“Cyber-risk insurance policies have been robustly re-engineered for organisations and individuals in the face of rising cyber-attacks and fraud on businesses,” she said.
Adegbayi, revealed that Leadway cyber-risks insurance policy is now optimised to provide first-party coverage and third-party liability risk covers on cyber-perils for organisations, while the individual policy coverage is on the verge of introduction into the market once approved by the National Insurance Commission.
Speaking during the discourse, Partner, Technology Advisory Services, KPMG Nigeria, John Anyanwu,
said: “Since the start of the pandemic, there have been increased dependency on the internet and mobile apps, and more reliance on digital channels. This has brought about a noticeable increase in cyber-attacks globally, and it has posed potential risks to businesses.”
He added that every organisation needed to implement prevention, detection, and responsive measures against the risks of cyber-driven attacks and fraud, noting that if organisations implemented the right cybersecurity measures, they would function with confidence regardless of the times.
Also speaking, IT-Security expert, Africa and the Middle East, Munich Re, Tariq Fadai, gave insight into how cyber attackers operated, recommending defense mechanisms organisations could adopt.
He further suggested that organisations with poor security hygiene need to change, noting that with the pandemic forcing corporates to deploy remote-work conditions and routines, systems have moved to cloud services with an increasing reliance on third party services.
“There is a risk of unavailability of services due to overcrowding, and several organisations might experience data loss as well. Every business owner should understand and make good use of important cyber-attack controls”, he added.
Also speaking, Head, Cyber Risks and Technical lines, Chubb Eurasia and Africa, Gilbert Flepp, emphasised on the need for organisations to institute maintenance of cyber-security protocol, endpoint detection and response tactics like implementing robust anti-Malware control and learning how to administer a disaster recovery plan.
