Aon acquires cyber security firm

Aon plc has announced the acquisition of Cytelligence Inc, a Canada-based cyber security firm that provides incident response advisory, digital forensic expertise, security consulting services and cyber security training for employees to help organisations respond to cyber security threats and strengthen their security position.

The acquisition will help Aon expand its current coverages within the cyber market at a time when cyber claims are almost doubling year-over-year. The 2019 Cybersecurity Almanac published by Cisco and Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that cyber events will cost USD6 trillion annually by 2021, as companies are digitizing most of their processes and are often operating remotely. Global cyber insurance premiums are expected to grow from USD4 billion in 2018 to USD20 billion by 2025. According to Aon’s 2019 Global Risk Management Survey, cyber-attacks were identified as a top 10 risk facing organisations and is predicted to be one of the top three risks for organisations in 2022. 

“As the number of network intrusions, data breaches, ransomware attacks, and similar threats continues to increase in both frequency and severity, expertise in cyber incident response becomes critical to organisations and insurance companies,” said J Hogg, CEO of Aon’s Cyber Solutions.

Cytelligence will join the growing portfolio of Aon’s Cyber Solutions, which combines digital risk management services, security services, professional risk solutions, and a global risk consulting practice. This acquisition enhances Aon’s 2016 acquisition of Stroz Friedberg and now allows Aon’s Cyber Solutions to offer an even more holistic portfolio of services to clients from proactive security services, to incident response, to risk quantification and insurance broking.