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Verizon & NTU to analyse attack impacts on Singapore's cybersecurity insurance industry
Thu, 23rd Feb 2017
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Business School is teaming up with global telco provider Verizon to better understand how cybersecurity incidents affect global insurers' economic and insurance loss.

The two organisations will work together and use Verizon's risk management expertise, as well as the VERIS Community Database (VCDB), which holds more than 7000 records of both public and anonymous breach data.

"Getting access to real cybercrime data is a huge boon to the insurance industry. Calculating the cost and the impact of a breach is a complex task at best, and one that demands the availability of huge amounts of data if it is to be accurate,” says Professor Shaun Wang, NTU's director of Insurance Risk and Finance Research Centre.

“The VCDB dataset will enable us to create more accurate assessment tools and methodologies which will in turn allow for more accurate underwriting. We are happy to welcome Verizon to the CyRiM project, “ he continues.

This will form part of a new programme that will develop data analytics capabilities for the insurance industry. The new programme is part of NTU's Cyber Risk Management Project (CyRiM), which involves industry, government and academia.

"The sharing of data breach information is not only vital in the fight against cybercrime but also in understanding how a breach can impact an organization's reputation and operations," says Rich Montgomery, group vice president at Verizon Enterprise Solutions.

The CyRiM project has been supported by both the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore. It will develop and recommend policies to the Singapore Government.

The cyber insurance industry is expecting a sharp uptake in currently languishing rates - the 10% current rate is expected to reach 40% by 2020.

"Verizon is a strong advocate of the continued sharing of cybercrime information, as our VERIS community initiative demonstrates. We are pleased that our data is able to help Singapore's ongoing initiatives in both Cybercrime prevention, and Fintech innovation," Montgomery concludes.