Weightmans forms cyber unit to assist businesses and insurers

Weightmans has built a team of cyber specialists to help businesses and their insurers build resilience in the face of ever-increasing threats.

The new team, known as CyXcel, will provide organisations with a 360-degree view of their exposure to cyber threats, assist them in boosting resilience and planning for incidents, and will provide dedicated incident response when breaches occur.

CyXcel is made up of 15 specialist businesses, covering international law and regulation, IT security, forensics, intelligence and public relations.

According to Weightmans, it is the first time a global team of experts has been brought together in this way to help businesses understand their risk profile, define and implement a resilience strategy, and develop effective response planning.

The team has already represented a financial services business that was the victim of a datanap breach, including negotiating bitcoin ransom payments, providing reputation management and liaising with the Information Commissioner’s Office on its behalf.

“The sheer volume of cyber and data threats we are now seeing mean it’s a case of when, not if, an organisation will fall victim to some form of breach—whether it’s the result of human error or criminal attack,” commented Ed Lewis, partner at Weightmans and project lead for CyXcel.

“The market for cyber insurance cover is maturing rapidly to keep pace, but the misconception persists that an organisation is resilient and adequately protected simply because they’ve bought a cyber policy.”

According to Lewis, CyXcel will help businesses become a much more attractive proposition to underwriters by identifying, contextualising and mitigating their specific risks, while simultaneously determining the appropriate cover and limits they need to transfer their exposure effectively.

“Insurers can be reassured that they have done all they can to minimise the impact of a potential breach and have robust plans in place to respond to threats,” Lewis said.

CyXcel will provide resilience strategy, incident planning and incident response, along with a range of insurance-related services to support claims and underwriting functions.

“How an organisation responds in the event of a breach is crucial,” added Lewis, “but even more important is the work done ahead of an attack to improve readiness and resilience.”

“Shoring up a business’s resilience is a matter which goes right up to board level. With the potential of large financial penalties and personal exposure, alongside severe business disruption, C-suites are increasingly under pressure to prove the steps they’ve taken to bolster their business against an attack.”

Mark Dugdale