We aren’ t fully there yet, but it’ s clear that there is a deliberate and growing trend towards greater transparency.

Cyberinsurance rates have been coming down, which is a positive trend for the market. Beyond the cost savings, what are the key benefits for a data centre in the UAE to invest in comprehensive cyberinsurance and risk management services? changed, particularly for clients who need a significant overhaul to become insurable?

Our business is definitely in a state of transition. While we’ ve had great success with wholesale transformations for clients with poor control environments, this is becoming less of an issue. The current soft market gives insurers more flexibility and clients’ overall awareness and control environments have improved.

The cyberinsurance market operates in cycles, from a hard market where rates increase, to a soft market where they decrease. We’ re currently at the end of a soft market, where rates are still coming down but at a slower pace than last year. We believe this means the market is starting to stabilise.

In this market, we advise our clients to do two things. First, review their coverage. In a soft market, you can often get coverage that wasn’ t previously available, such as for contingent business interruption, at a more reasonable price.

Second, build strong partnerships. Since the market is cyclical, building a strong relationship with insurers during a soft market means they are more likely to work alongside you during a hard market. It’ s much harder for an insurer to reduce coverage for a long-term partner than for a new client.

The fundamental benefit of cyberinsurance is balance sheet protection. Cyberincidents can lead to massive costs from business interruption and incident response, often running into millions of dollars globally. Beyond the financial protection, cyberinsurance provides critical support in the event of an attack.

However, a new and emerging topic, both in this region and globally, is the potential for physical damage from a cyberevent. Traditional cyberinsurance policies are designed to cover non-physical incidents like data breaches, system outages and ransomware attacks. They are not typically designed to cover physical damage.

What is your opinion on regulatory compliance maturity in the GCC, with a specific focus on data centre operations and their cyber-resilience?

In general, we see many clients pushing for ISO certifications. While these are good for establishing policy, we always advise clients that they aren’ t always a true reflection of the actual security control environment. ISO certifications primarily review documented processes, not necessarily what teams are doing on the ground.

A company might have excellent policies on paper but fail to implement them consistently in practice. While these certifications do improve the risk profile from a policy and procedure perspective, from an insurance standpoint, they don’ t always provide a complete picture of the real risk.

Many policies include a 24-hour response line, providing immediate help to mitigate the effects of an incident. This is crucial for businesses that may not have a pre-defined plan. For example, if a company decided to pay a ransom, many would not have the cryptocurrency to do so. An insurer can help navigate this complex process.

Finally, carrying comprehensive cyber and technology professional indemnity insurance is becoming a requirement for doing business. As a data centre or hosting provider, other businesses rely on your services. They will often require you to have this insurance to protect their own interests, as well as yours.

How has the demand for your cybersecurity advisory services

Instead, we are seeing insurers increasingly focus on continuous control monitoring and reviewing live evidence, rather than relying on annual audit snapshots. They want to see things like‘ red team’ and‘ purple team’ exercises to ensure a company’ s Security Operations Centre( SOC) is truly prepared for an incident. Many businesses have excellent Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans, but it’ s crucial that these are practiced and that employees know what to do in a challenging situation.

Another key area is post-incident learning. It is imperative that after an incident, there are feedback loops and that people are made aware of what happened. This is because it is far easier to prevent a similar situation from happening again in the future if everyone understands what went wrong.

A new and emerging topic, both in this region and globally, is the potential for physical damage from a cyberevent.

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