According to Peter Armstrong, head of Cyber Strategy for Willis Group Holdings, the Aviation Industry is lacking when it comes to “its response and readiness to the insidious threat posed by cyber criminality whether from criminals, terrorists, nation states or hackers.”
Armstrong noted that the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) cyber security framework and International Air Transport Association (IATA) aviation cyber security tool kit were good starts, “he warned that regulators, manufacturers and operators are only now waking up to the pervasive nature of cyber threats.” Armstrong believes that this is a boardroom threat that currently is not being “viewed as a significant enabler, amplifier or accelerator of existing risk in the portfolio.”
He argues that insurance companies have a role to play in developing the appropriate solutions to help manage the fallout of a potential breach as well as by developing appropriate “risk transfer solutions.” Armstrong noted that, “the aviation sector is particularly vulnerable to aggregated risk consequent upon cyber vulnerabilities because there is such heavy reliance upon digital capability and the very high degree of integration in a very sophisticated supply chain. Vulnerability and weakness in any part of the supply chain can and does have significant impact on the safety and effectiveness of the whole.”