Recording: Defining Cyber War: The Impact of Insurance on Cyber Norms

This is RUSI’s fourth event in its series on Cyber Statecraft in an Era of Systemic Competition.

Global cyber security and governance are at a critical juncture. Efforts to develop the rules, norms and values of cyberspace reflect shifting international power dynamics and competing political visions of what and who cyber security is for. Debates over concepts like ‘responsible cyber behaviour’ or ‘cyber war’ are not only shaped by states but also the private sector.

As an example, in August 2022, the cyber insurance market Lloyd’s issued guidance to underwriters that they should exclude losses from cyber war and state-backed cyber attacks that significantly impair the ability of a state to function. Global cyber security rules, definitions and norms are – rightly or wrongly – increasingly seen as being central to the financial future of the cyber insurance market.

To discuss the relationship between the cyber insurance market and global cybersecurity governance, RUSI, King’s College London and the University of Bath hosted a panel of experts from academia and the insurance industry.

The event was funded by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), in partnership with the Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security (RISCS).

Speakers 

• Dr Josephine Wolff, Associate Professor of Cybersecurity Policy, Tufts University
• Dr Daniel Woods, Lecturer in Cybersecurity, University of Edinburgh and Senior Security Researcher, Coalition
• Tom Johansmeyer, Global Head of Index Classes, Price Forbes Re
• Helga Munger, Senior Cyber Consultant, MunichRe

Moderator: Jamie MacColl, Research Fellow, RUSI