Bolt calls for better reporting around cyber attacks

Companies that fall victim to cyber attacks must be able to report them to the authorities and make the insurance industry aware of them.

This is the opinion of Tom Bolt, director of performance management at Lloyd’s, speaking at a briefing today, July 8.

Attendees at the briefing, ‘Business Blackout’, were given details on an emerging risk report around the dangers of a cyber attack on the US power grid via specifically designed malware. The total impact to the US economy is estimated at $243 billion, rising to more than $1 trillion in the most extreme version of the scenario.

Bolt explained that many companies don’t want to report cyber attacks because they do not want to admit to being vulnerable, which could worry customers.

He added that this hampers the insurance industry, as it becomes aware of such attacks after they happen, delaying receipt of information.

Instead Bolt said that it would be better to have anonymised reports about the severity of the events sent to the Government, so that an official database could be built up. This would give insurers a better idea of the nature, number and seriousness of cyber attacks, so that they could then adjust their own cyber coverage to match the perceived need.

The anonymity of the database would also encourage more companies to come forward to report further attacks.