Cyber Risks and Insurance Policies at Critical Infrastructure: CoESS at Geneva Summit 2023
Joining the 50th Summit of the Geneva Association – an organisation dedicated to Insurance Economics – Catherine Piana, Director General of CoESS, moderated a session about cybersecurity and how critical infrastructure operators need to address it, but also how insurers are considering the cyber risk. The panel included representatives from the Insurance industry and a representative from the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
In her opening remarks, Catherine introduced the CoESS / Ligue report on Cyber-Physical Security in Critical Infrastructure (CI), which explores the blurring frontier between cyber and physical security.
She also mentioned a Waterfall report, looking at manufacturing and major Industrial Infrastructure, which indicates that, since 2020, public reports of cyber attacks with physical consequences in these industries have more than doubled annually. The report highlights that the sophistication of attacks is increasing, making attacks previously only accessible to Nation State actors, soon possible for criminals and hacktivists.
The panel discussed the cyber threats facing Critical Infrastructure, the measures required to increase their resilience and the regulatory and legislative response. Cooperation was one of the most frequently mentioned measure to improve resilience, involving all stakeholders: CI operators, technology providers, governments and security specialists.