Every person realizes, at least I hope they do, that society - and the world - is moving into a new state of being: a new realm, a cyber realm if you will, that is being continually reshaped by five technological forces: digitalization, mobility, the Internet, the cloud, and artificial intelligence. (I'll use the "web"… Continue reading The Cyber Butterfly: Risk Management Challenges
Author: Barry
The “Every Day-ness” of Black Swans in the Cyber Age
Too many people throw around the term "Black Swan" willy-nilly (a technical phrase for 'far too quickly without justification'). Systemic cyber events will become the norm. These systemic cyber events will all be "white swans". I suggest that most cyber attacks are systemic cyber attacks, but currently not with the reach of the CrowdStrike cyber… Continue reading The “Every Day-ness” of Black Swans in the Cyber Age
Two Cyber Issues: Insurability & Financial Returns of selling cyber cover
I have worked for insurance carriers (in marketing / market research areas) for almost 20 years beginning in the mid-1960s, been a management consultant (operational, strategy, and product development gigs) to the insurance industry for almost 10 years, and been an insurance industry analyst since 1997 (focused on the ways current and emerging technologies do… Continue reading Two Cyber Issues: Insurability & Financial Returns of selling cyber cover
Systemic Cyber Risks: Ever Present, Ever Expanding (Originally published late 2023 – no changes)
I almost titled this post "Something Wicked This Way Comes" but I realized that systemic cyber risks are already here. They have come. There is no shutting the door to keep systemic cyber risks out. They are an attribute of any portfolio of two or more companies linked together through the use of the web.… Continue reading Systemic Cyber Risks: Ever Present, Ever Expanding (Originally published late 2023 – no changes)
Regarding Cyber Risk Funding
I'm hypothesizing that when insurers and insurance groups fund startup cyber MGAs or startup cyber insurers they are behaving like VCs hoping to generate desired returns from (some of) their investments. But are they really behaving like VCs - do these insurers (using cyber MGAs) have a plan regarding how much to invest, or a… Continue reading Regarding Cyber Risk Funding
“Unimaginable”: The Dilemma of Imagining Yet-to-Emerge Cyber Attacks
Game of Thrones, Season 7, Episode 3 - After the Lannister army had marched on Highgarden, Jamie Lannister went to visit Lady Olenna in her room. And before she drank the poison he gave to her, she told him: "Whatever I imagined necessary for the safety of House Tyrell, I did," says Olenna. "But your… Continue reading “Unimaginable”: The Dilemma of Imagining Yet-to-Emerge Cyber Attacks
Total Insurable Space of Profitable Underwriting Shrinking??? (Thought Piece)
"Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, “What road do I take?” The cat asked, “Where do you want to go?” “I don't know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it really doesn't matter, does it?" Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll November 1865 The insurance industry is being quickly surrounded… Continue reading Total Insurable Space of Profitable Underwriting Shrinking??? (Thought Piece)
Potential Categories of a Cyber Attack Space Topography
The concept of topography, specifically related to cyber attack spaces, has been rattling in my head for the past few months. What are the shapes of current cyber attack spaces? What are the shapes of future cyber attack spaces? What might a person include as categories (and elements of the categories) of cyber attack spaces… Continue reading Potential Categories of a Cyber Attack Space Topography
The Cyber Age: a Few Thoughts
One thought : when did the Cyber Age start? It's not just a nice-to-know question. Regardless of when it began, the Cyber Age is enabled by a foundation of five technologies (digitization, mobility, cloud, web, and AI) and their concomitant applications that dramatically changed how society interacts within itself, including conducting (or consuming, if you… Continue reading The Cyber Age: a Few Thoughts
A Cyber Equation
Cyber past losses + Cyber IBNR + Cyber potential future losses =A. Vibrant cyber insurance marketplace now and in the future?B. Sign for insurers to stop selling cyber insurance now, if not sooner?C. Sign that insurers need to craft strategies to sell lower amounts of cyber insurance to some markets? All markets?D. Sign that insurers… Continue reading A Cyber Equation






