Tech risk and cyber attacks are set to become an increasingly important part of the business insurance sector, says a Hamilton advisor.
Cyber crime is the new frontier when it comes to insurance, with the digital side of business just as important as physical assets, Ryan Mulder says.
The risk, foregrounded by the recent high-profile hack of the Waikato DHB’s computer system, will continue to grow with the increasing takeup of technology by business.
Mulder says the insurance industry has previously been focused on physical assets, where there can be a direct loss through the likes of theft, breakage or fire.
But the use of technology is introducing a new realm of risk, particularly around privacy.
“We had changes in the Privacy Act in December 2020, which holds business owners a hell of a lot more liable with their client information than they used to be.
“New business risks are coming into the industry and it’s important to make sure that you’re not only covering your physical asset, but you’re also covering your digital asset.”
That includes client information, bank account numbers and passwords.
Mulder works with a certified ethical hacker to help businesses understand whether any of their information has been leaked, potentially exposing them to hackers making demands such as untraceable Bitcoin.
“It’s really interesting to have those chats with people and help them understand how that kind of thing may potentially unfold, and then how we utilise insurance to make sure that they don’t have a financial loss if anything like that happened.”
Mulder, who has been working in insurance for three years, has picked up national recognition from the industry, making the list of Insurance Business NZ Young Guns for 2021.
He is an adviser with Quantum Finance, one of two in the general and fire part of the business, and has built a significant book of business while also creating a standard operating procedure used throughout the firm for customer service and onboarding. Mulder says his approach has been to bring an empathetic approach, and help clients understand what they are paying for.
“With me coming into the industry with no prior knowledge, I understand the need to make things simple and easy for people to understand.
“Because these are relatively large costs for people each year, and there’s no point in paying for something that you don’t understand, or paying for something that’s not going to be of use to you at the time that you need it the most.”
Mulder, 30, joined the Hamilton firm at the end of 2018, the year after it had started. While Waikato is their hub, Mulder’s clients come from around the country and range from single-person outfits to larger corporates.
“I want to be able to bring technology change effectively into the industry to make it simple, make it easy and affordable for people to use and understand the value of insurance
industry a lot more,” he says.
“I really do impress on people that we are going to see a massive shift in the industry, towards more technical, technological change, and the utilisation of digital assets, whether that be apps or AI, all of these new mediums that are coming into play. They’re going to be taken up into this industry a lot more.”
