Aussie insurers call on government to release cyber data

Australian insurers have called on the Australian government to release more data related to cyber attacks in order to help insureds and insurers better understand cyber risks. 

“Government should increase information to business and the community about cyber risk and promote simple ways, especially to businesses with limited resources, of improving cyber security, including reviewing existing standards,” the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), an industry lobby group, said.

It added: “By making data on cyber incidents available the government could improve the understanding of cyber risk and the cyber insurance market and assist risk assessment by insurers.”

On September 22, Australia’s second-largest telecoms company, Optus, revealed that it was hit by a cyber attack that exposed customers' names, dates of birth, phone numbers and email addresses.

The company could not say how many of its approximately 10 million subscribers in Australia had been compromised, but its chief executive, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, said the number was “significant”.

Andrew Hall, the ICA’s chief executive, said: the attack on Optus “demonstrates how important it is for large and small organisations to have robust cyber protections in place. This chilling example reminds us that more needs to be done to protect businesses and organisations from cyber-attacks. Working in partnership with government, insurers have a key role to play to help businesses protect themselves and recover from cyberattacks.”