Willis Towers Watson claims to have launched dedicated cyber insurance product for ship operators at a time when traditional marine insurance is reducing cyberattack cover
Willis Towers Watson introduces cyber insurance for shipowners. (Credit: Pixabay/Thomas G.)
UK-based insurance brokerage giant Willis Towers Watson has launched CyNav, a new cyber insurance cover specially designed for ship operators.
Designed to address the increasing need for explicit marine cyber insurance, the new cyber insurance product is built from the ground up to specially address the exposures of ship-operators, rather than trying to use existing generic cyber products amended to fit their needs.
The company said that as shipowners’ dependence on technology continues to grow for all aspects of their operations, the risks related to dependency could result in significant financial damage.
CyNav from Willis Towers Watson protects shipowners in the face of ransomware attacks
The new product CyNav features crisis management costs cover that protects shipowners during ransomware attacks, data breaches and others.
It also includes business interruption cover for disruptions in operations faced in case of a cyber incident. The cover will also support an incident which occurs at a third-party IT service provider upon which the shipowner relies.
The product offers property damage and loss of hire cover that arises from a cyberattack or satellite communication interference. It will also cover the costs that arise from disruption to or detainment of a vessel following a cyber-attack.
It also offers cover for fines and defence costs that arise from regulatory actions such as those under GDPR and the Network and Information Systems Directive (NISD).
Willis Towers Watson Marine Head Ben Abraham said: “Barely a week goes by without new cyber events affecting the maritime sector. Many are minor and unreported, but the major cases have caused consequential commercial losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“CyNav offers a genuinely pioneering marine-specific cyber solution. In an environment of increasing ingenuity of cyber criminals and increasing levels of cyber security governance in the maritime industry, CyNav anticipates the protection that shipowners need to mitigate their cyber risk.”
In March, Aon announced it will buy rival insurance broker Willis Towers Watson for $30bn in an all-stock M&A deal that will make it the world’s largest insurance broker.