When asked whether they were seeing more demand for cyber insurance as a direct result of the incoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), an overwhelming 80% of survey respondents agreed.
Respondents to the survey at last year’s event cited the incoming GDPR regulation as an element likely to drive up the demand for cyber insurance in 2017.
Graeme Newman, Chief Innovation Officer at CFC, explained: “Under the GDPR there will be a requirement that businesses have an incident response plan in place and must notify any data breach no later than 72 hours of becoming aware of the event. To do this, businesses are going to need access to a whole raft of specialists and that’s going to have a disproportionate effect on SMEs who are unlikely to have this level of capability in-house. They could find themselves scrambling for help and possibly face missing the cut off, thus exposing themselves to breaching the new rules.
“I think that there is a greater realisation as GDPR looms ever closer that cyber insurance can offer a valuable lifeline. As well as protecting them against the emerging threats of the digital age, the right provider will give insureds instant access to carefully selected specialists who can guide them every step of the way from creating an incident response plan to dealing with a cyber attack.”
* The survey was conducted on 23rd November at the 2017 Cyber Symposium in London, UK. Hosted by CFC Underwriting, the event was attended by over 200 representatives from the insurance industry.
