Canopius unveils cyber incident response team

Canopius Group has announced the launch of its Cyber Incident Management Team (CIMT) to provide comprehensive support to Canopius cyber policyholders worldwide in the face of cyberattacks.

Leading the service are the Cyber Incident Response team leaders based in Canopius’s international business units. Brendan Helleman, who served in the British Army and UK Ministry of Defence for two decades, heads the team in London. Ellen Brookes, previously a technical support specialist at global law firm K&L Gates, leads the team in Sydney. Steven Wesolek, with nearly 10 years of information security and incident response experience, assumes the role in Chicago.

In addition to the regional leaders, six team members are spread across London, Sydney, and Chicago, bringing diverse expertise from backgrounds in cybersecurity, corporate relationship development, and the military.

Canopius’ CIMT aims to significantly enhance the insureds’ initial response to cyber attacks, reducing recovery time and improving service quality. The team manages interactions with specialized services required to address the attack’s impact, including lawyers, data forensics experts, and PR and reputation specialists. In-house response capabilities allow Canopius to address incidents within hours, while outsourced services can take days, the company said.

Canopius policyholders gain access to preferred rates for specialist cyber incident service providers. The CIMT also offers pre-event risk mitigation services, such as tabletop hacking simulations, which help identify vulnerabilities in insured computer systems.

“The launch of Canopius’s global cyber incident response marks a significant investment in our capabilities and further specialisation of our dedicated cyber claims team. It represents another milestone in the growth of our global cyber portfolio, wherein the focus is always to provide first class services,” said Matt Northedge, global head of cyber and technology at Canopius. “As the impact of cyber-attacks continues to grow in complexity, insureds and brokers require even closer collaboration when managing the consequences of such attacks. I am delighted to welcome our new team, who are already adding significant value and relief to our growing number of policyholders.”

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