Insuring cyber-assets

For businesses, protecting digital assets has never been more complex and risk managers have never been so important. In particular, the transfer of risk is an area now coming under increasing scrutiny. Cyber-insurance is now being discussed more frequently by C-level leaders and risk managers. But as a risk transfer option, it will not necessarily be of great use unless the underlying information security and assurance is improved, argues Daljitt Barn of NCC Group. For businesses, protecting digital assets has never been more complex. The concept of an organisation's digital identity has grown significantly since the term was coined, and now involves a complex web of connections that can be extremely difficult to unravel - let alone protect. The advent and subsequent explosion of social media networks have had perhaps the greatest impact on organisations since the Internet revolutionised the way businesses connected and communicated with each other and with their suppliers. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.