13 May 2021
Cybersecurity and data privacy is an increasing concern for boards. With 2020 going down in the history books as ‘the year of ransomware’, many are asking when this spree of high profile, highly disruptive, and costly cyber-crime will end. There is heightened concern amongst boards around whether they are ‘doing enough’ on cyber/privacy and managing the convergence of multiple Australian regulators on the issues of privacy, cyber security and sanctions risk.
As media headlines continue to demonstrate, Australia is a key target for ‘big game hunter’ cyber criminals and this trend will likely continue for some time. High profile ransomware attacks continue to impact Australian businesses at an estimated annual cost to the Australian economy of over $1 billion (based on our own claims experience, it’s likely to be much more). Law enforcement, policy makers, insurers, and the infosec and legal communities are banding together to take action and curb the threat.
With cyber exposure continuing to top global surveys around key business risks, Clyde & Co are continuing their expansion of their global offering in this space.
John Moran who co-leads the global cyber team at Clyde & Co recently announced the promotion of Richard Berkahn and Reece Corbett-Wilkins to the Clyde & Co partnership. Richard and Reece have specialised in cyber risk for a long time and are industry respected. Their appointment helps to bolster Clyde & Co’s market leading cyber risk offering and helps clients manage cyber-crime events, regulatory investigations and privacy consumer claims.
“We are seeing boards facing challenging decisions about whether to engage with cyber criminals and increasingly, whether to pay ransom demands. This is clearly now a top concern and boards are increasingly looking to the industry for support on how to navigate these complex crisis events. Richard and Reece play a vital role in helping clients prepare for and respond to cyber risk”, said John Moran.
Richard joined the firm in 2018 and is a specialist cyber risk advisor. Known for managing global data breach incidents, Richard works hand-in-hand with our international and regional offices to execute large scale data breach notifications, manage regulatory risk, and help clients improve their privacy posture and maintain trust with their clients.
Reece joined the firm in 2018 and is also a specialist cyber risk advisor. Known for managing some of Australia’s highest profile cyber incidents, Reece works with several industry vendors and government agencies to co-ordinate the response to industry-wide supply-chain data breaches, large loss events, ransomware attacks and other cyber-crime activity.
“The promotion of Richard and Reece recognises the immense efforts demonstrated by the pair in supporting the development of Clyde & Co’s cyber practice, people, clients, and the industry more broadly. Their promotion to the partnership is an opportunity to celebrate their incredible contribution and commitment to such a rapidly evolving practice area and helping protect the community from cyber risk”, said Michael Tooma, Clyde & Co’s Australian Managing Partner.
Clyde & Co has for a long time invested heavily into tackling cyber-risk, and sees it as a top-priority. In addition to these promotions, Clyde & Co have recently welcomed several new team members across the Cyber, Data and Digital Risk team including partners Alec Christie and Jacques Jacobs. Both partners are well known to the market in their respective data privacy and cyber insurance fields.
Clyde & Co's global cyber practice provides an end-to-end cyber risk solution to clients. From pre-incident readiness and incident response through to regulatory investigations, proceedings, third party claims (including group litigation) and recoveries, the team assists corporate clients, insurers, insureds and brokers across the full cyber lifecycle. The cyber team has advised on over 2,000 cyber incidents and data breaches, ranging from small incidents through to some of the largest, most high profile, multi-jurisdictional incidents to date.
For further information, please contact:
Michael Tooma, Partner, Clyde & Co
michael.tooma@clydeco.com
