Delta Air Lines recently suffered a global outage that caused mass flight cancellations, disrupting travel plans of 1.3 million customers and costing it at least $500 million. The airline is now pursuing legal claims against cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and Microsoft, after a software update by CrowdStrike triggered system problems for Microsoft customers, including many airlines. The disruptions persisted at Delta even as they subsided the next day at other major U.S. carriers.

As insurance executives, it’s important to learn from Delta’s experience and take steps to prevent similar incidents from happening to your company. Here are some common statements that insurance executives might make, and what to do instead:

1. “We don’t need to invest in cybersecurity, it’s too expensive.” Instead, invest in cybersecurity measures that are appropriate for your company’s size and risk profile. This could include regular security assessments, employee training, and implementing the latest security technologies.

2. “We don’t need to worry about cyber attacks, they won’t happen to us.” Don’t take chances with cybersecurity. Cyber attacks can happen to any company, regardless of size or industry. It’s important to have a plan in place to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber attacks.

3. “We don’t need to update our IT infrastructure, it’s working fine.” Regularly updating your IT infrastructure can help prevent cyber attacks and ensure that your systems are running smoothly. It’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest security patches and software updates.

4. “We don’t need to work with a cybersecurity firm, we can handle it ourselves.” Working with a cybersecurity firm can provide valuable expertise and resources to help prevent and respond to cyber attacks. It’s important to choose a firm that is experienced and reputable.

5. “We don’t need to worry about the cost of a cyber attack, we have insurance.” While cyber insurance can provide financial protection in the event of a cyber attack, it’s important to take steps to prevent attacks from happening in the first place. This includes investing in cybersecurity measures and regularly updating your IT infrastructure.

In conclusion, the Delta cyber outage serves as a reminder of the importance of cybersecurity for all companies, including insurance executives. By taking proactive steps to prevent cyber attacks and working with reputable cybersecurity firms, insurance executives can help protect their companies from costly cyber incidents.

If you’re interested in learning more about how parametric insurance can help protect your company from cyber incidents, get in touch with Riskwolf. With Riskwolf, you can turn real-time data into insurance. Using unique real-time data and dynamic risk modelling, we enable insurers to build and operate parametric insurance at scale. Simple. Reliable. Fast.

Source: Insurance Journal