Financial professionals understand the risk posed by cyber attacks – and have in many cases been affected by hackers or an attempted attack – and they’re spending more money to guard against the risk. Not on insurance, as it turns out, according to a new survey conducted during the Association of Financial Professionals (AFP) annual conference.
With 940 responses, AFP revealed that 62 percent of companies have experienced a cyber attack or an attempt in the last year. Respondents also see the larger consequences of data breaches on the overall economy, not just to their respective companies, but to the financial system in general. Nearly half predicted a collective loss of faith in the payments system, should more data breaches succeed.
That awareness has led the majority of organizations (71 percent) to invest in mitigating the risk of cyber attacks, rather than transferring the risk with cyber insurance. Spending on resources to prevent attacks is up 50 percent, AFP reported. And two-thirds of respondents said they have focused on updating crisis response and business continuity plans.
Only 15 percent of financial professionals said they’ve opted to buy more cyber insurance this year, with six percent of companies choosing to buy it for the first time this year. The AFP survey showed that 31 percent of respondents do not carry cyber coverage at all, while 48 percent said they continue to carry the same amount of cyber coverage they have carried in previous years.
Erin is the managing editor of Advisen’s Front Page News. She has been covering property-casualty insurance since 2000. Previously, Erin served as editor-in-chief of The Standard, New England’s Insurance Weekly. Erin is based in Boston, Mass. Contact Erin at [email protected].
