More than a third of risk professionals throughout Africa, Europe and the Middle East (EMEA) have, over the past two years, experienced an average $2.1-million economic knock owing to disruptions, data breaches or security exploits; however, many companies remain uninsured, a new survey by Aon Risk Solutions and The Ponemon Institute has revealed.

After surveying 545 risk professionals across 15 countries in the EMEA during March, Aon found that, despite the serious risk of cyber attacks, with 52% of the companies believing that their exposure to cyber risk would rise over the next two years, and 37% having experienced disruptive security exploits or data breaches one or more times during the past two years, only 19% had cyber insurance coverage.

“In today’s technology-driven environment, enterprise risk management issues are rapidly growing with the increased use of information assets and technology and present an ever-increasing exposure to business.

“Despite this, far too many organisations remain seriously underinsured in respect of cyber risks where the quantum for a catastrophic attack or exploit could exceed $200-million,” said Aon South Africa financial institutions and professional risks manager Kerry Curtin.