Lloyd’s cuts off online delegated authority platforms amid cyber threat

A Lloyd’s spokesperson declined comment on whether the platforms had been turned back on today.

Although the source of the activity is not yet clear, Lloyd’s has been vocal in its support of sanctions on Russia, making it a potential target for cyber attacks.

The spokesperson said: “Lloyd’s has detected unusual activity on its network and we are investigating the issue.

“As a precautionary measure, we are resetting the Lloyd’s network and systems. All external connectivity has been turned off, including Lloyd’s delegated authority platforms.

“We have informed market participants and relevant parties, and we will provide more information once our investigations have concluded.”

Cyber attacks

Lloyd’s is the latest insurance business to suffer cyber-related problems.

Verlingue UK suffered an attempted cyber attack last November which cost it £121,807, according to a Companies House filing.

The cost reached a total of £363,161, but this was mitigated by cyber insurance cover.

The extent of cyber breaches hitting intermediaries was revealed by Insurance Age last month after a Freedom of Information request to the Financial Conduct Authority.

The number of cyber breaches reported by insurance intermediaries rose from 12 in the financial year of 2020/21 to 15 in 2021/22.

This February Aon confirmed a cyber incident.

In September last year Insurance Age reported on Aston Lark-owned DNA Insurance Brokers being the victim of a phishing attack. A few months earlier, in May, One Call Insurance confirmed that it had been subject to a ransomware attack.

Previously, in 2020, both Ardonagh Group and Gallagher were hit by separate attacks which saw Ardonagh take remedial action and Gallagher take some systems offline for a period.

Government

The government is so concerned about financial firms’ resilience to cyber threats and systems failings, legislation is underway to give authorities powers to oversee resilience of critical third-party system suppliers.

In July the Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority set out plans to oversee “critical third parties” in the financial services sector.

The government has included legislative proposals in the Financial Services and Markets Bill, currently before Parliament, to grant the supervisory authorities’ powers to directly oversee the resilience of services that CTPs provide to the UK financial sector.

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