RIMS Letter Advocates for a Federal Cyber-Insurance Backstop

In a letter to the Federal Insurance Office, the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) voiced support for a federal cyber-insurance backstop.

While it indicated that RIMS members would support a "well-crafted cyber-insurance backstop," the organization listed several concerns that should be considered in crafting a solution, as follows.

• Determining whether the scope of the federal backstop should be limited to critical infrastructure or available to all organizations in light of an incident's cascading impact
• If the backstop imposes cyber-security controls, ensuring those controls align with existing external standards such as those issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology or the International Organization for Standardization
• Examining whether the federal cyber-insurance response should be included in the existing Terrorism Risk Insurance Program or be kept independent

"Cyber threats, and the devastation a cyber incident can have on an organization, consumers, and systems, remain the top concern for risk management professionals around the globe," RIMS CEO Gary A. LaBranche said in a statement. "RIMS looks forward to working with federal policymakers to successfully develop a solution that provides greater financial protections for cyber events, paving the way for risk professionals to continue to make the world safer, more secure, and more sustainable."

RIMS said that it will continue to monitor the development of a federal insurance backstop for catastrophic cyber incidents.