Risk managers need to brush up on social media and cyber risks

Risk managers, insurers and brokers alike are not fully aware of the wider risks linked to social media and cyber, according to JLT Speciality partner and chief executive Peter Hacker.

Hacker said: “In principle, social media is what we call an intangible asset risk, it belongs to the emerging risk classes and it’s a risk you cannot look at in an isolated way. You actually have to see this in a broader perspective.”

He adds that the lack of understanding stretches across the industry: “It is not just risk managers, insurance or brokers, but I think that all parties involved … need to [improve their knowledge] on this particular topic and get a better understanding of it first.”

He adds that risk managers must acknowledge the interconnected nature of cyber risks in particular: “You really need to look at the interchanges … because if you look at one decision on cloud, it has an impact on what you do on the app side and it will have an impact on what you do ultimately on the malware side of things or what you do on data breaches, so it is a very challenging approach.”