Emergence Insurance has established a cybersecurity advisory practice after receiving enquiries from brokers whose clients want help in areas such as online training and vulnerability testing.

The specialist underwriting agency says the cyberSuite business gives brokers the tools to become cyber risk advisers through a range of services, regardless of whether clients are insured.

Head of cyber advisory at cyberSuite Cris White told a recent webinar that an incident was reported every six minutes, and the Australian Cyber Security Centre noted a 23% increase in incidents last year.

“Threats come from organised crime with a focus on making money; nation states that want to steal intellectual property and disrupt business and governments; hacktivists with political or social agendas; script kids, who hack for fun or fame but can inflict significant pain; and insiders with an axe to grind or a desire to sell stolen information,” he said.

The cyberSuite product range includes assessments of governance, information security and privacy, and data protection, and cyber awareness training to build resilience and gain confidence in abilities to respond to attacks.

Online employee training focuses on passwords, avoiding phone scams and phishing attacks, and preventing business email compromise.

An uninsured incident response team can help those who cannot get cover or are not yet transferring cyber risk.

“The risk still needs to be managed,” Mr White said. “The services are agnostic and available to anyone who needs them, but there are preferential rates for Emergence insureds.”

Emergence CEO and founder Troy Filipcevic says cyberSuite offers a pathway to insurance for those unable to buy coverage because of a low level of cyber awareness.

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