Industry against hackers. Source: Image by Javad Rajabzade on Pixabay
Ransomware attacks exist after observing Silvana Roessler, Head of Security Incident Response at Forensiker Networker Solutions GmbH, more and more often from ransom demands with double blackmail. In this form, the hackers spied out sensitive data, encrypted it and threatened to publish it if it was not paid, she explained at “25. Cologne Insurance Symposium “of the Institute for Insurance at the Technical University of Cologne.
“Last year the ransom sums were 10,000 to 15,000 euros, we are now finding amounts of eight or even 15 million euros,” she said. From her experience she also confirms media reports that an existing cyber insurance policy has an impact on the amount of the ransom. “Hackers also look around the networks to see whether the companies are insured and it can be assumed that they will do this even more in the future,” she said.
For protection, she recommends using really strong passwords. While a password with up to eight letters can be hacked under an hour, that is practically impossible with a 16-character password with numbers and special characters. Because this would take 143 trillion years with current computing power. She also pointed out that passwords are not only published on the Darknet, but also on the “normal” Internet. In addition, hacking services are now rentable for a few hundred dollars.
Michael Fortmann from IVW Cologne, warned against focusing primarily on the risks of digitization. “Digitization also gives us new opportunities that we as an industry have to go along with if we want to be part of it in the future,” he said. He cited new possibilities in mobility as examples. Trends such as predictive maintenance could reduce claims expenditure in some lines. If artificial intelligence made machines more reliable, manufacturers could guarantee their customers more. “Then as an insurer you have to think about how you can provide support here, because otherwise you are left out,” said Fortmann. He also stated that the use of digital technologies is changing damage prevention and internal processes.
The EIOPA boss showed what efforts and activities the European supervisory authority for the insurance industry and company pension scheme is undertaking in terms of digitization Gabriel Bernardino in a comprehensive overview. “Digitization, insurtechs and cyber resilience are strategic priorities for Eiopa,” said Bernadino. He reported that 31 percent of European insurers were already actively using artificial intelligence tools and 24 percent were experimenting with them. The main areas of application are “pricing and underwriting” with 35 percent and the fight against fraud with 31 percent. This use should not lead to discrimination. The algorithms used must be transparent and understandable. “There can’t be black boxes that only a few people understand,” he said. He also went into the subject of cloud computing, where he “expects more” from providers in terms of governance. Across Europe, 33 percent of insurers are now using clouds. 32 percent plan to start in the next three years.
Author: Monika Lier
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