The insurance boss of technology giant Fujitsu has warned that home working will become standard practice beyond Covid-19, leaving firms exposed to cyber risk that likely won’t be covered under their existing policies.
The company’s EMEA Insurance CTO Manan Sagar believes the increased risk could threaten the recovery effort of countries as they seek to bounce back after the pandemic.
“There will be a ‘new normal’ when society emerges from the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
“Businesses will not only have to increase their reliance on online channels, they will also be providing their employees with a transformed workplace where working from home will become regular practice, rather than a welcome option.
“Most insurance policies are designed to cover traditional property and casualty losses where customers and employees transact from physical sites.
“Such policies offer minimal or no coverage to cyber-attacks”
Sagar believes this presents a challenge to the insurance market, which will need to embrace technology partners to address the gap in insurance.
“This gap doesn’t just leave businesses exposed, it risks de-railing society as we attempt to emerge from this global pandemic,” he adds.
“The insurance sector needs to work with technology sector and the government to reduce the likelihood and severity of cyber-attacks, because no amount of social distancing will be able to help if a large scale cyber-attack was to happen.”