The UK government has published its first Cyber-security strategy that ‘explains what the government will be doing to ensure [cyberspace's] safety, security and resilience’.
This precedent is another reminder that UK society is increasingly taking advantage of, and relying upon, digital and communications technology.
The document puts the average cost of a security-information incident at between £10,000 and £20,000 for a small company; and £1 to £2m for large companies with more than 500 employees; and that the incident can be perpetrated by a range of individuals or organisations (source: BERR Information Security Breaches Survey 2008, PwC).
The perpetrators can include criminals, terrorists and states. They can use a variety of methods: from electronic attacks to gain or deny access to information and subversion of supply chains to more overt attacks, such as manipulating radio signals or damaging unprotected electronic equipment through high power radio transmissions.
The report indicates that the impact will vary according to the target and wider context and that the probability of these attacks occurring increases when a so-called ‘insider’ within the target organisation is involved.
Two new governmental structures will be created, one of which will be entitled the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) and will help to ‘ensure coherent dissemination of information across government, industry, international partners, and the public’.
This may become a useful resource for insurers wanting to keep track of cyber risks that could impact their books.
Another source of information that may be useful to insurers is the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) which ‘has built up strong partnerships with private sector organisations across national infrastructure, creating a trusted environment where confidential information can be shared for mutual benefit’. Such information may help insurers to better assess their digital risk portfolio and their own operational risk.
The Lloyd’s Emerging Risks team is currently investigating the potential impact on insurance of an increasingly digital economy and society and will soon publish a summary report.
Related links
Cyber-security strategy launched, BBC news, 25 June 2009
Tags: Cyber, Digital risks
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