CII Ready to Promote Cyber Insurance

EghtesadOnline: The Central Insurance of Iran, the industry’s regulator, welcomes offers by Iranian insurers to provide coverage against cyber assaults, CII’s president said.

News ID: ۷۸۲۴۹۴

06 May 2018

“The insurance industry considers any product or service insurable. [The process only involves] risk assessment to set the premium rate,” Abdolnasser Hemmati added, calling on insurance companies to submit their cyberattack proposals for CII’s approval.

“CII is prepared to review and endorse the proposals for [insuring] such products,” he told IRNA on Friday.

According to Risknews.ir, no official figures have yet been published regarding the frequency of hacking attacks targeting domestic businesses and the losses inflicted on Iran’s economy, Financial Tribune reported.

The issue of cyber insurance gained urgency after a large-scale attack last month hit thousands of Internet service providers and data centers worldwide, including some 3,500 Iranian devices.

Hackers left the image of a US flag on screens along with a warning: “Don’t mess with our elections.”

The April 6 attack was foiled by Iran Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center in two hours.

Iranian network service provider Respina was one of the companies most affected by the attack, which underscored the need to upgrade Iran’s cybersecurity response mechanisms.

“Insuring the companies against cyberattacks has become a common service in the global insurance industry,” but Iran’s insurance sector is lagging behind, a senior insurance executive, Parviz Mazloumi, said.

“Iran’s insurance industry has not yet covered this category. This is why we cannot give a precise estimate of the losses Iranian companies incur due to cyberattacks,” he said.

Mazloumi noted that both the insurers and Iranian firms are to blame for the sector’s failure to address hacking incidents.

“This is partly because insurance companies have not offered a product to respond to this modern need of the society … Also, Iranian firms have not felt such a need,” he said.

“The idea of seeking cyber insurance protection has failed to gain traction even among state-owned firms that are in a better financial position than private enterprises.”

Mazloumi noted that as long as there is no demand for a product, it will not be produced but insurers can spur demand by devising and promoting such a product.