Silent Cyber: Solutions Emerge Amid the Uncertainties

Silent cyber, also known as unintended or non-affirmative coverage, refers to the potential cyber exposures contained within traditional property and casualty insurance policies, which may not implicitly include or exclude cyber risks. Unlike specialist standalone cyber insurance, which clearly defines the parameters of cyber coverage, traditional insurance policies were not designed with cyber exposures in mind. In many cases, traditional policies will not specifically refer to cyber, or the language remains untested to the exposure, and could theoretically pay claims for cyber losses in certain circumstances, according to Erica Davis, Cyber Center of Excellence, Guy Carpenter.

As a result of the uncertainties around these potential exposures, insurers face challenges around the lack of uniformity in the industry, risk accumulation and lack of cyber expertise. The general scarcity of available and historical data creates complexities with the modeling and quantification of silent cyber exposures.

In the last year, various stakeholders have responded to the industry’s silent cyber challenges to ensure that safeguards exist for potential insurer exposure identification and…