‘Beleaguered’ Energy Market Could Prompt Insurer Exits

The energy sector faces its “greatest challenge for 50 years” as the collapse in oil prices requires energy companies to cut costs and self-insure more, creating a lack of demand that could propel insurers out of the market, according to a recent report from Willis Towers Watson.

“The phrase ‘the perfect storm’ is possibly the most over-used cliché in describing business landscapes, but in truth no other term really comes close to identifying conditions in the energy insurance markets as we move further into 2016,” Neil Smith, Willis Towers Watson’s global product leader for natural resources, wrote in the report. In fact, the report likened insurers’ struggle in the energy sector to Antarctic explorers of the past, fighting not just to attain the South Pole first, but merely to survive.

Read more at http://www.advisenltd.com/2016/04/15/beleaguered-energy-market-could-prompt-insurer-exits/

Erin Ayers, ‘Beleaguered’ energy market could prompt insurer exits (April 15, 2016), available with subscription at Advisen Professional Front Page News.

Cyber Risk Can Affect M&A Valuation, Requires Focus in Due Diligence

Mergers and acquisitions in the US topped 12,000 last year and 2016 is already heating up, with a shareholder vote on Marriott International’s bid for Starwood Hotels expected this week, in a move that would create the world’s largest hotel chain. Experts say that in any M&A transaction, cyber risk must become a key focus in the due diligence process, but particularly in the hospitality industry.

Cyber criminals targeted at least five hotel chains in 2015 – Hilton, White Lodging Services, Starwood, Mandarin Oriental, and the Trump Collection. Recent reports also indicate that the Trump hotel chain has again been hacked. Hotel chains appeal to hackers as a steady business usually transacted with credit and debit cards and a high-volume blend of business and leisure travelers. Hotels mergers and acquisitions have increased as chains seek to consolidate and compete, but the security industry warns that acquiring companies need to be aware of the risks that come with the purchase.

Read more at http://www.advisenltd.com/2016/04/15/cyber-risk-can-affect-ma-valuation-requires-focus-in-due-diligence/

Erin Ayers, Cyber risk can affect M&A valuation, requires focus in due diligence (April 15, 2016), available with subscription at Advisen Cyber Front Page News.

Aon Terrorism & Political Violence Risk Map: ‘Increasing Regional Instability’

Aon’s 2016 Terrorism & Political Violence Risk Map reports the first net increase in global terrorism risk since 2013.

“Our 2016 map demonstrates increasing regional instability and a growing spectrum of potential risks,” said Scott Bolton, director in crisis management at Aon Risk Solutions.

Read more at http://www.advisenltd.com/2016/04/15/aon-terrorism-political-violence-risk-map-increasing-regional-instability/

Josh Bradford, Aon Terrorism & Political Violence Risk Map: ‘Increasing regional instability’ (April 15, 2016), available with subscription at Advisen Professional Front Page News.

Cyber Criminals are Going Corporate, Symantec Reveals

Taking a page out of the best-practices business books of their targets, advanced attackers show signs of corporate organization in order to more effectively hack into networks, according to Symantec’s latest Internet Security Report, which found that a new zero-day attack is discovered on average once a week, double the rate of a year ago.

“Advanced criminal attack groups now echo the skill sets of nation-state attackers. They have extensive resources and a highly skilled technical staff that operate with such efficiency that they maintain normal business hours and even take weekends and holidays off,” said Kevin Haley, director of Symantec Security Response.

Read more at http://www.advisenltd.com/2016/04/15/cyber-criminals-are-going-corporate-symantec-reveals/

Erin Ayers, Cyber criminals are going corporate, Symantec reveals (April 15, 2016), available with subscription at Advisen Cyber Front Page News.

Catastrophes Cost Insurers $37 Billion in 2015: Swiss Re

Insured losses covered only 40 percent of the world’s total economic losses from all disasters, including natural and man-made events, according to Swiss Re’s sigma study released Wednesday.

Global insured losses totaled $37 billion in 2015, well below the previous 10-year average of $62 billion.

Read more at http://www.advisenltd.com/2016/04/04/catastrophes-cost-insurers-37-billion-in-2015-swiss-re/

Josh Bradford, Catastrophes cost insurers $37 billion in 2015: Swiss Re (April 4, 2016), available with subscription at Advisen Professional Front Page News.

Cyber Insurance Take-Up Rate for New Policies Increases 27% in 2015: Marsh

Greater awareness throughout organizations of cyber risks drove significant increases in the take-up rate of cyber insurance purchased by Marsh clients between 2014 and 2015, according to the latest report from the broker.

Overall, Marsh reported a 27 percent increase in the number of insureds buying standalone cyber insurance for the first time in 2015. The manufacturing industry showed the biggest increase with a 63 percent rise over 2014. Insureds in the communications, media, and technology sector showed the second-largest increase in new purchases at 41 percent.

Read more at http://www.advisenltd.com/2016/04/04/cyber-insurance-take-up-rate-for-new-policies-increases-27-in-2015-marsh/

Erin Ayers, Cyber insurance take-up rate for new policies increases 27% in 2015: Marsh (April 4, 2016), available with subscription at Advisen Cyber Front Page News.

Data-Incident Trends Revealed by BakerHostetler Report

Humans still account for nearly a quarter of all data security incidents, but an analysis of more than 300 incidents by one law firm revealed the leading causes of cases in 2015 was phishing, hacking or malware.

The new report from BakerHostetler appears to confirm several other observations from within the cyber landscape that phishing and malware are becoming increasingly prevalent. While human error ranked as the leading cause of incidents in 2014, in 2015 employee action/mistake dropped to second at 24 percent.

Read more at http://www.advisenltd.com/2016/04/04/data-incident-trends-revealed-by-bakerhostetler-report/

Chad Hemenway, Data-incident trends revealed by BakerHostetler report (April 4, 2016), available with subscription at Advisen Cyber Front Page News.

Delayed Reaction: EMV Implementation Moving Slowly, Surely

It’s becoming a familiar sight – seeing a sparkly-new point-of-sale terminal at your favorite local store with a “chip” card reader ….. that doesn’t yet work. At least one grocery store in my area even has whimsical little signs indicating that the “potato chip” reader or the “chocolate chip” reader isn’t functional. The EMV system (referring to Europay-MasterCard-Visa) is making its way slowly to brick-and-mortar retailers and to the pockets of consumers around the US, but has hit many delays.

In most cases, a not-fully-operational card reader doesn’t indicate foot-dragging or negligence on the part of the merchant — having card readers already shows major financial investment in the implementation. A change that was ushered in on Oct. 1, 2015, the process continues to be stymied by delays in EMV implementation between retailers and their payment services providers. Many banks have also been slow to issue new cards to clients. The shift to “smart” cards also means a shift in liability to retailers from card-issuing banks, a potential problem for any retailer not accepting chip cards or banks that haven’t issued them.

Read more at http://www.advisenltd.com/2016/04/04/delayed-reaction-emv-implementation-moving-slowly-surely/

Erin Ayers, Delayed reaction: EMV implementation moving slowly, surely (April 4, 2016), available with subscription at Advisen Cyber Front Page News.

The Race to Avoid a Race to the Bottom

This week our friends Matthew McCabe and Tom Finan appeared in front of federal legislators to spread their massage of cyber data sharing.

A creation of some kind of repository has long been recommended by Finan, now the chief strategy officer at Ark Network Security Solutions. As the senior cybersecurity strategist and counsel at the US Department of Homeland Security, Finan released a series of reports on behalf of the DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate about creating a cyber incident data repository.

Read more at http://www.advisenltd.com/2016/03/28/the-race-to-avoid-a-race-to-the-bottom/

Chad Hemenway, The race to avoid a race to the bottom (March 28, 2016), available with subscription at Advisen Cyber Front Page News.