Leadway Insurance boss cautions on alarming rise in cybersecurity risk

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Leadway Assurance, Mr Tunde Hassan-Odukale, has cautioned corporate businesses owners and governments on the overwhelming rise in cybersecurity risks.

Hassan-Odukale, in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos, said crucial steps needed to be taken to mitigate the unprecedented risk attack.

He was reacting to a recent report by Kaspersky, a multinational cybersecurity and digital privacy company.

The report revealed that the number of backdoor computer malware recorded in the second quarter of 2022 increased significantly across sub-Sahara Africa’s leading economic powerhouses, like South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, compared to the first quarter

According to the report, South Africa recorded a quarter-on-quarter increase of 140 per cent to 11,872 cases.

Nigeria’s rate rose by 83 per cent, recording 2,624 cases, while in Kenya, the number of detections increased by 53 per cent to 10,300.

Hassan-Odukale noted that every organisation was at risk of the menace, as government agencies, non-government organisations (NGOs) and corporate businesses had all been affected by the rising waves of cybercrime in Africa.

“The evolution in digital innovations and the COVID-19 pandemic have inspired businesses, NGOs and government agencies to adopt technology-driven operations.

“Also, cloud computing, online capabilities, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to drive superior production, operational efficiencies and service delivery.

“As significantly positive as these new migrations have been, they also exposed corporates and organisations to the realities of the growing activities of sophisticated cybercriminals.

“Recent findings indicated, enterprises with less than 200 employees lose an average of $2.5 million (over N1billon) to cyberattacks. These new threats have become a critical financial risk to organisations,” he said.

According to him, every business and organisation must recognise that cyber-attacks are significant risks, irrespective of its size and industry and put in place a solid financial recovery plan should an exposure occur.

The managing director stated that the development inspired the design of the Leadway cyber-risk insurance policy.

He noted that while this risk management tool does not guarantee immunity from attacks, it guarantees respite by offsetting costs incurred during a cyber-related security breach.

He said this would ensure accelerated businesses recovery after being hit by attacks.

Hassan-Odukale said: “Leadway cyber-risk insurance policy, backed by a team of vastly experienced cyber-security experts, provides first-party coverage and third-party liability risk cover, assuring organisations of the needed financial support as victims of cyber-attacks.