Cyberterrorism, hackers, identity theft, and computer viruses threaten to disrupt the world’s digital networks. Digital attacks can have severe effects on national wealth.
In order to improve cyber-security nationwide, leading insurers and federal homeland security officials have agreed to work together to improve cyber-security within the financial sector.
According to the Insurance Journal:
“[T]he National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, and the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council agreed to work together to speed the application of research into practice for better cybersecurity for the critically important financial services sector.
The organizations said they plan to leverage their expertise, research, and development capabilities and other resources to explore new cybersecurity technologies and develop new processes that benefit critical financial services functions.”
An insurance market has developed to manage cyber-security risk for consumers. Cyberinsurance is designed to protect its holders from Internet-based risks such as hacking threats, data destruction, and denial-of-service attacks. Managing these risks is just as important as dealing with physical damage from natural disasters, and the market has grown consistently with the rise of the digital economy.
A Heartland Research & Commentary on cyberinsurance was recently released and is available at the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate News Web site at: http://www.heartland.org/firepolicy-news.org/article/28895.