European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
Cyber risk in the industry insurance - EIOPA publishes article - 15 October 2021
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published an article on the impact of cyber risks on the insurance industry.
The article refers to a recent study on COVID-19 and cyber risk in the financial services sector, which revealed that the sector has experienced the largest number of COVID-19 related cyber events of any sector, with insurers one of the three most affected types of financial business.
Insurance groups are a target for cyber attacks because they hold significant amounts of confidential policyholder data, including a large range of protected personal sensitive information. The main consequences suffered by insurers following these cyber incidents are business interruption and material financial costs for the firm, policyholders and third parties. Cyber incidents can also result in severe and long-lasting operational issues for the targeted insurance groups and the reputational damage may be substantial or even irreversible.
EIOPA states that insurers need to manage cyber and IT risks, both within their organisations and across the value chain, as well as ensuring they keep pace with new threats and developments. Operational resilience testing and co-operation between insurers, regulators and other stakeholders can help with both these aspects and, in this regard, it welcomes the proposed Regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA) and other initiatives.
EIOPA will continue to monitor and motivate innovation, while keeping a close eye on emerging risks and how consumers are being treated.
Press release
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