Harmonising Cyber

The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) issued a report last week on the "Commonality of risk assessment language in cyber insurance". The aim of the report is to encourage and facilitate harmonisation in the cyber insurance market. Its findings and recommendations are valuable reading for those who have an interest in what is probably the fastest growing sector of the insurance industry.

A notable finding of the report is that despite the diversity of cyber insurance products on offer (and consequent buyer confusion) there is considerable consistency between the coverage offered, if one looks past the varying terminology.

In contrast, however, there is lack of uniformity of underwriting practices (as well as policy wordings). This flows from lack of consensus as to which security standards underwriting questionnaires should be based on.