Released on: December 3, 2007, 3:59 am

Press Release Author: Alexandra Lewis

Industry:

Press Release Summary: UK business is sleepwalking into dependence on IT as the gap
widens between increased cyber risks and the measures employed to manage them,
according to leading insurance broker and risk management consultant Aon in its 2007
Risk Report.

Press Release Body: UK business is sleepwalking into dependence on IT as the gap
widens between increased cyber risks and the measures employed to manage them,
according to leading insurance broker and risk management consultant Aon in its 2007
Risk Report.

Shaun Cooper, network risk consultant at Aon, commented: "Based on the DTI 2006
information security survey and the longer recovery times we are seeing, companies
could lose up to an estimate £1.2 million in revenues per incident by not working
out their IT risks and addressing them effectively."

As the failure of an organisation\'s IT network can be debilitating, Aon is urging
businesses to identify and take steps to mitigate external and internal IT risks.
These include:

*
data theft for industrial espionage;
*
call centre hijacks where hackers gain control and demand a ransom to restore
service;
*
bot scams where viruses are used to take over large numbers of computers;
*
power failure or a natural disaster affecting the technology;
*
basic human error.

Management tend to have an outdated image of a hacker as a lonely youth making
mischief in cyber space but a more accurate picture is that of an organised,
professional criminal carrying out targeted attacks to steal data for illicit
profit. The report identifies that the risk to company data is growing both in terms
of the number of incidents and their severity: the UK government estimates computer
crime is costing UK business about £2.5 billion every year.

Companies can do the following to reduce their exposures to external threats:

* analyse your business to identify areas vulnerable to IT risks;
* create a security culture with all departments and employee roles;
* develop strong IT security defences and business continuity plans which are
regularly tested.

Shaun added: "Ignorance is no longer an excuse. Companies who fail to manage their
data stores will risk regulatory censure, together with loss of customer confidence.
In short, companies need to ensure that their culture is data-conscious from top to
bottom. Technology has gone as far as it can in terms of protecting the network. IT
security is now a job for the risk manager reporting to the board, not just for the
people in charge of the technology itself."

However, Aon's Risk Report warns that internally generated risks should be the
greatest worry to businesses. Greater use of outsourcing and the extension of global
supply chains have added to the complexity of information management. An
accelerating pace of M&A activity further complicates the issue of network risks
that many companies have yet to even recognise.

Shaun explained: "Though companies can insure for up to three months loss of revenue
resulting from IT problems, this is only one part of the solution and many remain
unwittingly exposed. While traditional insurance covers tangible property such as
hardware, there are a host of exclusions ruling out compensation for loss arising
from data issues."

Every business should go through the management processes that an insurer would
require before granting cover. This may include establishing technology protocols,
checking that employee contracts specify non-abuse of company data, implementing and
enforcing IT security, having a robust data recovery plan in place and backing up
data regularly.entertainment
and media liability insurance

Notes to editors:

Figure is based on the cost of business disruption for 2 days of £120,000, according
to the DTI 2006 information security survey. Aon's experience, however, indicates
that recovery times are taking longer, at around 10 days on average.

Aon UK is ranked by A.M. Best as the number one global insurance brokerage based on
brokerage revenues and voted best insurance intermediary, offering classic car
insurance, high
value home insurance, entertainment and media liability insurance and
construction insurance.


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