NDSU Cybersecurity Institute director and Challey Institute faculty fellow Jeremy Straub recently was asked by facilitators at SUNY University at Albany and the Society of Actuaries to be part of an expert panel related to catastrophic cybersecurity risks.
Straub, who is also an assistant professor in NDSU’s Department of Computer Science, helped SUNY and the society understand the types of factors that could contribute to increased damage from cyberattacks and, thus, cost to insurance companies.
The goal of the panel and study is to help the insurance industry determine how to understand and assess the risks posed by large-scale cyberattacks. This understanding is key to pricing policies and ensuring that insurance companies don’t assume risks that could cause them to fail under catastrophic claim scenarios. Straub joined panelists from organizations such as Google, John Hopkins University, the Department of Homeland Security, Marsh McLennan Insurance and the University of Edinburg.
“With the growing number of cyberattacks, companies are highly reliant on insurance providers for both their financial recovery and assistance in responding to incidents,” said Straub. “I’m pleased to be able to help SUNY’s University at Albany and the Society of Actuaries in advancing the understanding of catastrophic cybersecurity risks.”
Based on the work of the panel, SUNY University at Albany and the Society of Actuaries have issued a report entitled “Setting the Scene: Framing Catastrophic Cyber Risk.”
The report focuses on three areas: defining catastrophic cyber risk, how said risks are handled and catastrophic cyber risk scenarios. Among its outcomes were identified deficiencies in how catastrophic cyber incidents are handled.
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