Natalie van de Coolwijk, CyGeistNatalie van de Coolwijk, CyGeist


In a world where threats are becoming more complex and ever evolving; with laws becoming more demanding, investing in cyber insurance delivers true business value.

That was the message from , CyGeist MD, speaking during the ITWeb Governance, Risk and Compliance 2014 Summit at The Forum, Bryanston recently.

According to , the digital revolution has presented new challenges to the organisations on top of the corporate governance and legislative developments they are already faced with.

The world has also become a global village because of the Internet, which has spurred aggressive growth in cybercrime, she noted, adding that assets and perils are no longer just tangible or physical in this age. Describing the traditional insurance products, Van de Coolwijk noted that they mainly covered things like professional indemnity, general liability, business interruption, computers, as well as fidelity guarantee.

However, these were mostly tangible assets like hardware, property, loss of business etc but did not cover things like data, she pointed out. “Cyber insurance is specifically tailored to address intangible property and non-physical perils,” Van de Coolwijk said. “It provides cover for information and network breaches, as well as first-party and thirdparty cover.”

She explained that it also covers for data recovery and business interruption. “Cyber insurance provides coverage to respond to a loss of income and operating expenses experienced due to a network breach.

“It will cover expenses of specialists, investigators, digital forensic auditors, or loss adjusters as well as costs to restore/recover data and operations, or costs incurred until such point in time where it is established that data can’t be recovered/restored.

“When cyber insured, organisations also get crisis management and notification expenses cover as it provides coverage for costs to respond to a failure or privacy breach,” Van de Coolwijk stated.