New York State's superintendent of the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Benjamin Lawsky, is going after cybersecurity in the state's major financial companies. He says cyber insurance can play a role:
"'I worry that we're going to have some major cyber event in the financial system that's going to cause us all to shudder,' said Lawsky, who regulates both banks and insurance companies.
Lawsky noted that, while there's a role for policy makers and legislators to address the issue, the public sector also may be able to prod the private sector to take steps to better handle the risk.
'We need to think about ways to incentivize the market participants to do more to protect themselves from attacks,' Lawsky said.
He noted the rising market for cyber attack insurance, still in its relative infancy. That, in turn, could help companies improve their internal systems to fight such breaches, as those efforts could help them secure policies.
