Last week ASIC Commissioner John Price told the Cyber Insurance Forum that cyber insurance could encourage organisations to improve their cyber resilience.

“While it is still in its infancy in Australia, it is easy to see its potential as an incentive for businesses to better deal with cyber risks,” he said.

“Just as the process of obtaining home insurance can incentivise home owners to invest in alarm systems, smoke detectors, and better locks, the same could be true for companies seeking to obtain cyber insurance.

“Cyber insurance providers can potentially contribute to the management of cyber risk by promoting awareness, encouraging measurement and by providing incentives for risk reduction.”

Price said while cyber insurance could be part of the overall strategy to be cyber resilient, it was by no means a “substitute for good risk management”.

As part of ASIC’s mandate, he said the watchdog would focus on ensuring insurance products were performing in the way consumers and investors were told they would and were delivering value for money.

Cybercrime is conservatively estimated to cost the Australian economy $1 billion a year.

Almost 12,000 reports of cybercrime were registered with the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN) from April to June 2017, of which 11 per cent were from WA.

The top three cybercrimes reported scams or fraud (51 per cent), purchase or sale (19 per cent) and cyber bullying (7 per cent).

In response to the new wave of crime impacting businesses, CCI is hosting  Cyber Risk on October 19 as part of its Business Series.

Global professional services firm Aon’s Client Executive, Financial Specialties Riju Maitra will present the workshop to help businesses understand what cyber exposures are relevant in today’s climate and where gaps in insurance policies may lie.

Maitra is responsible for Cyber, Directors and Officers and Professional Indemnity insurance in Western Australia.

The event will run from 12-1pm and include a Q&A session.