One of the world’s largest reinsurers called risks associated with cloud computing one of several high-impact emerging risks.
Swiss Re’s new report, “New emerging risk insights,” identified 26 “newly developing or changing risks which are difficult to quantify and whose potential business impact is not yet sufficiently taken into account.”
The first of these risk mentioned in the report is cloud computing security. Swiss Re said multi-tenancy makes cloud computing economical because infrastructure, storage, maintenance and software are shared. But with these conveniences are significant risks such as data loss, leakage and hijacking.
“The risks of moving to the cloud are still largely unknown,” according to the report.
Among the potential impacts, Swiss Re lists provider liability claims, reputational and financial damage, as well as, “Data corruption or data theft may lead to accumulated losses and business interruption, with one event impacting many companies.”
Panelists at the NetDiligence Cyber Risk & Privacy Liability Forum in June addressed the cloud. Ann DeVries, managing director with program administrator Safehold Special Risk, said insurers are trying to track clients’ cloud providers, DeVries reported, but “tracking aggregation is a very difficult thing to do.”
Swiss Re sees “digital slander” as another emerging risk. The reinsurer said some insurers already offer products to cover costs of removing damaging content from the Internet.
“Every employee is a potential ambassador, detractor or both,” said Swiss Re. “And unauthorized post and an authorized company post could ultimately prove ill-advised.”
Other high-impact emerging risks involve financial markets. Swiss Re’s outlook includes a crisis in emerging markets, deflation in the Eurozone and short-term regulatory fixes to fix the last financial crisis. Air pollution leading to a higher mortality rate is another high-impact risk.
Chad Hemenway is Managing Editor of Advisen News. He has more than 15 years of journalist experience at a variety of online, daily, and weekly publications. He has covered P&C insurance news since 2007, and he has experience writing about all P&C lines as well as regulation and litigation. Chad won a Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Single Article in 2014 for his coverage of the insurance implications of traumatic brain injuries and Best News Coverage in 2013 for coverage of Superstorm Sandy. Contact Chad at 212.897.4824 or [email protected].
