Cyber safety: separating the wheat from the chaff

It is predicted that the internet of things will see 20 billion devices connected to the internet by 2020. The pace of change is enough to make your eyes bleed and inevitably there will be some major cyber security issues along the way.

Even the insurance community who are generally comfortable with risk are mainly keeping their powder dry - most policies available (AIG, Hiscox, Zurich) are bespoke and assume high levels of pre-existing cyber safety.

Court cases such as Travelers Casualty and Surety co. vs Ignition Studios Inc do not help to identify where liability falls as it was settled out of court.

From an SME perspective it is very tough to penetrate the complex language around cyber safety and absent user friendly insurance policies the market looks likely remain in its early stages. Until a few court cases have shown where liability falls between principals and third party providers and what level of cyber safety is a minimum standard before negligence kicks in sorting the wheat from the chaff will be a tough challenge.