CyberCube's risk model update addresses new cyber threats

Cyber risk analytics company CyberCube has released an updated version of its cyber risk modeling platform, Portfolio Manager, which allows insurers to stress test re/insurance portfolios against a range of systemic cyber-related scenarios including data breaches, cloud outages, global ransomware attacks and financial fraud.

CyberCube said that since its initial launch in 2018 there has been an increase in the reliance on the cloud across most industries, which has resulted in a change in the exposure profile of companies.

Moreover, over the past two years there has also been an uptick in the use of ransomware as an attack vector and a shift in geo-political tensions between nation states.

Cyber insurance contracts have seen a moderate expansion on coverages and limits but business interruption continues to be the core driver of cyber aggregation risk across insurance portfolios.

Josh Pyle, CyberCube’s actuarial director, said: “Cyber is a dynamic, man-made peril so it's important we update the model to reflect the current threat landscape. This gives us the chance to explicitly address new and revised assumptions and incorporate learning from events that have occurred since the initial launch.

“In this update, we have taken a fresh look at scenario class narratives, event frequencies, occurrence footprints, and scenario-level loss severity calculations. In addition, we’ve added several new scenario classes, addressed user feedback and added functionality so that this product version is even more user friendly and robust.”

Ashwin Kashyap, co-founder of CyberCube and head of product & analytics, said: “CyberCube’s model is on its way to being the risk currency across the insurance ecosystem for all lines of business impacted by the peril. We have listened intently to our clients and reached a significant milestone by delivering an enhanced solution to address their needs. CyberCube’s unparalleled data and analytics platform powers the new version of Portfolio Manager and draws upon the expertise of a world-class team focused exclusively on cyber risk analytics.”