Depending on domicile, insurers can often access public/private risk-sharing mechanisms that can help manage the financial threat of terrorism. Coverage purchased via these mechanisms is typically triggered by a national government’s declaration that a terrorist event has occurred. Given the potential scale of the threat and impact on the insurers’ distribution channels, sev ... Continue Reading »
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Terrorism Risk Is Declining, but a Closer Look Shows an Ominous, Evolving Threat
Let's start with the good news: Terrorism risk is declining in many countries. Between 2018 and 2019, plenty of evidence surfaced to underline this positive trend. The Islamic State (IS), which once controlled territory roughly equivalent in size to Portugal, no longer controls any land. In 2018, the number of people globally killed in terrorist attacks dropped by more than ... Continue Reading »
Changes in the Reliance on TRIPRA
In the United States, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015 (TRIPRA) is scheduled to expire at the end of 2020. Renewal under its current structure and coverages remains uncertain. As a result, carriers are beginning to explore and, in some cases, to secure, additional reinsurance limits and coverages under the assumption that there is a finite amount ... Continue Reading »
U.S. Terrorism Risk Backstop Up for Renewal in 2020
The federal backstop created by the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) and reauthorized as TRIPRA - along with similar public-private mechanisms that exist in other countries - remains crucial to the continued stability and health of the property terrorism insurance market. As TRIPRA's expiration on December 31, 2020 approaches, Marsh & McLennan Companies colleagues ... Continue Reading »
2019 Terrorism Risk Insurance Report
Terrorism remains a dynamic global risk and a serious threat for people and organizations. The evolution of terrorism risk exposes many countries to complex threats from both international and home-grown groups, as well as individuals acting on their own, known as "lone wolves." And the evolution of terrorism risk in recent years challenges risk professionals to adopt new ... Continue Reading »
Preparing For a Cyber Attack
Cybersecurity in many organizations has over the last few years been exposed as kind of a Swiss cheese solution, as cyber criminals have found vulnerable entry points to pull off major hacks costing companies hundreds of millions of dollars. In countless cases, companies have failed to erect strong defenses, or failed to recognize and quickly react to an attack. Clearly, ... Continue Reading »
Aviation Industry May Be Vulnerable to Cyberattack Through Its Global Supply Chain
While major aircraft manufacturers and airlines make obvious targets because of the potential they represent to conspicuously disrupt international commerce, they also rank high on hackers' to-do lists because they maintain global, highly interconnected supply chains that over the past few years have been aggressively digitizing operations. More digitization means more attack ... Continue Reading »
The Transformation of Biological Risks: Deliberate Attacks; Part II
In contrast to other types of terrorist attack, which require resources that are difficult to scale and replenish, the technical knowledge required to launch a catastrophic biological attack can be deployed repeatedly once it is mastered. This potential to "reload" creates the potential for successive high-impact attacks. According to one expert, this means that the national ... Continue Reading »
The Transformation of Biological Risks: Deliberate Attacks; Part I
Received wisdom is that biological agents are an unattractive weapon, in part because of the perceived risks involved in their production, and also because of the difficulty of targeting particular groups or populations. But this is not an area for complacency. A report commissioned last year by the U.S. Department of Defense highlights the "almost limitless list of malicious ... Continue Reading »
Global Cyber Terrorism Incidents on the Rise
The nature of the terrorism threat facing society has changed considerably in the last 20 years. Previously, governments and (re)insurers structured their mitigation strategies and responses to deal with attacks that were large in scale. ... Continue Reading »
