Experts warn firms on cyber protection against attack

Experts in the insurance industry have warned corporate organisations, religious outfits and individuals to put in place necessary measures to protect database and computer networks against cyber attacks.

The experts who spoke at a virtual training organised by Leadway Assurance, said that for organisations and other outfits to work free online, there is a need to protect themselves against hackers in the near future.

Speaking on the paper titled “Understanding Cyber Insurance” at the training, officer in charge of Casualty and Liability Underwriting, General Insurance(CLUGI) Leadway, Uzodinma Ibe, said, with increased online and internet connectivity becoming part of the daily business, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need for protection against cyber attacks.

He said a comprehensive report by a United Kingdom (UK) cybersecurity company, identified that there was high traffic when it comes to information, transactions, and data emanating from Nigeria into digital space, adding that the survey noted that 36 per cent of Nigerian organisations suffered cyber attacks in the last 12months.

Stating that 64 per cent of cyberattacks in Nigeria exploited misconfigurations on the organisation servers, he pointed out that Nigeria hadthe highest data leakage in the world.

On business activities, social networking and governmental activities, he said the report had also identified where Nigeria as a digital hub is and to what extent are their cyber exposures.

In order to avoid cyber attacks on computer networks, which sometimes resulted in data and financial losses, he said there was the need for enterprises, individuals, and corporate organisations, to see it as a serious business and take up some form of cyber mitigating effort in this regard.

According to him:“Here in Leadway, through research, we have been able to identify a particular area of cyber exposure where corporate entities can find themselves and see how we can do proper risk management and provide a specific insurance product that can help them mitigate such exposures through Cyber Risk Management Insurance which in some quarters called Cyber Liability Insurance and in some, Cyber Risk Management Insurance,” he said.

Meanwhile, the principal investment and strategy, Leadway Assurance Limited, Akinyemi Alebiosu, said underwriting in the future is going to be driven by data.

Insurance companies that want to remain relevant in the nearest future, he stressed, must consciously create digital channels that are customer-friendly, customer-centric, and always make the customer happy.

He said,“Data is the new oil, and underwriting in the future is going to be driven by data and analytics. We are getting to a point where we will be using historical records, using robotics, artificial intelligence in making decisions of pricing, type, and extent of risks we take.

“Insurance companies of the future will seek to collect large pools of data, analyse it, try to make meaning of it, prepare or create predictive models, at the end of the day make decisions that will make the product better.”

Earlier, the executive director, general business, Leadway Assurance Limited, Ms. Adetola Adegbayi, implored Nigerians to embrace insurance, stressing that insurance remains a key source of raising fund to carter for risks. She noted that Leadway Assurance, over the years has been providing happiness to the insuring public through prompt payment of claims.