Cyber Insurance in the UAE

Posted on Nov 08, 2016 by Travis Jones  | Filed Under: cyber insurance uae, cyber insurance, cyber insurance dubai, hacker insurance, hacker insurance uae, hacker insurance dubai, uae medical insurance, uae health insurance, dubai medical insurance, dubai health insurance, dubai insurance, uae insurance, uae cyber attack, cyber attack, cyber attacks, uae cyber attacks, dubai cyber attack, dubai cyber attacks

Did you know that the UAE is a hotbed of cyber attacks? Businesses and professionals in the country should be aware of the risks that are out there, as well as steps they can take to protect themselves from hackers online. Here, UAE Medical Insurance covers Cyber Insurance, why it's needed and how it can help you. Read on to find out more.

Sure, it’s a bit cliché to start an article off by talking about ‘our modern age’ and ‘technological advancements’, but day-to-day dependence on our computers and smartphones has become a reality that has led most of us putting a remarkable amount of our personal information online. Obviously this applies to all the public information that we willingly make available to our friends, but we also give up some extremely pertinent information to 3rd parties that we sometimes take for granted, and people decades ago would no doubt find alarming. This is because there have been so many cases in recent years of this type of online information becoming stolen by people that simply should never have access to private information. Whether through 3rd parties selling our details to the highest bidder, or hackers breaking into what we normally would consider to be secure sites, the threat of information theft and misuse is higher now than ever before, and this trend is only going to continue as the people of the world put more and more of their lives online.

The risks don’t end there, however, as the people that we entrust with holding onto our information are also at great risk simply by storing it. After all, despite whatever terms and conditions we may agree to in using a service or business online, if the information of masses of people becomes jeopardized through the result of negligence or poor planning on the party of an organization of any kind, there could be some real consequences as a result, including financial reimbursement. This means that having liability coverage for any problem that may arise from losing the data of others, as well as the company itself, is something that businesses in the UAE certainly must worry about, and that’s where Cyber Insurance comes in.

On Cyber Insurance

Cyber Insurance is generally defined as an insurance product that protects people and businesses from internet-based risks, which does not count exploding modems or anything of that nature. Mostly, this coverage is going to deal with liability for lost information online, and this specialty product is needed, as most general liability policies do not include such coverage.

This liability aspect of Cyber Insurance protects 3rd parties from losses incurred as the result of a company or individual action (or lack of action), which could lead to issues like defamation, lost data, errors and omissions being introduced to the public and more.

Beyond liability though, Cyber Insurance also protects the insured from cyber attacks via coverage for items like information theft, extortion, destruction of data, denial of service (DOS) attacks and other hacks.

The view from the ground

For providers of Cyber Insurance in the UAE, there has been great news in recent years. This is because the UAE market for Cyber Insurance has been growing at a rate of 10% on an annual basis. Although this is a relatively new product, businesses in the UAE are realizing the importance of it. One doesn’t have to dig very deeply into a major news site before they will see a story about a business or government organization that was hacked. Whether this occurs purely to bring once hidden information about what is happening behind the scenes to light, or in order to amass client details for purposes of monetary gains, businesses today are being scrutinized more than ever when it comes to securing themselves from online threats.

The UAE, in particular, is having a staggering amount of trouble with cyber security, as it was announced as recently as August 2016 that the UAE was the 2nd most targeted country in the world by hackers, with only the US seeing more attacks. This is likely due to the specific industries that make up the UAE’s economy and the success the nation has seen.

Apparently, the focus of many of the cyber attacks in the UAE are on state-owned energy companies, but when asked about the specific industries that have seen particularly interest in Cyber Insurance products, a representative of the Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company listed oil, gas, banking, commerce and tourism as being major buyers. Clearly, the interest in the product is wide and spread across a number of different sectors.

How Cyber Insurance helps

Okay, so we’ve established that there are risks on the internet, and that the UAE is a hotbed for cyber attacks, so what can Cyber Insurance really do for you? A number of things, actually:

• Security audit: Obviously, if an insurer is going to be covering for you for cyber security, they are going to want to make sure that there are adequate (hopefully more than adequate) IT securities in place. Fortunately, it is also in your best interest to make sure that your IT security is audited regularly to ensure that you are keeping up with the technologies possessed by those that may be attacking your IT systems’ integrity.

• Public relations: Following a cyber attack, the last thing that a company is going to want worry about is the damage control that is likely needed to be done with the public, clients, partners, shareholders and the like. This is where having professionals working on public relations can be a real life (and headache) saver.

• Investigations: After a hack occurs, the victim simply should not accept it. A proper and probing investigation should be done, and all possible avenues explored to find the culprit. Hiring investigators isn’t cheap, though. Cyber Insurance will allow for a timely investigation with real professionals to get to the bottom of a cyber attack.

• Rewards: Okay, so your investigation has found out who the perpetrator of your recent cyber attack is. They are proving extremely hard to physically track down, though. Cyber Insurance will even provide funds to put a reward out for tips that lead to their capture.

It can be seen in the points above that the real merit of Cyber Insurance is in arranging for the funding needed should a large cyber attack occur, and due diligence in defending from such an attack does need to be taken as a precautionary measure. Of course, cyber security is always evolving, and so are the Cyber Insurance products being offered by insurers in cooperation with IT security firms.

If you have any other questions about Cyber Insurance, contact the insurance experts at UAE Medical Insurance. While we do not currently sell Cyber Insurance products, our agents are always happy to provide you with all information regarding all types of insurance products, and will do the research necessary to get you the answers you need. Of course, we can always provide you with free plan comparisons and price quotations when it comes to health insurance.