Pioneer in cyber underwriting Emergence Insurance has been awarded $100,000 by Western Sydney University (WSU) from a $745,000 Federal Government grant awarded to WSU.
The grant aims to support small businesses in cyber incident response as part of the Cyber Security Business Connect and Project Grants program to be led by WSU.
The initial 12-month program will see Emergence and three other leading cyber security businesses work with WSU to establish a new Cybersecurity Aid Centre in Parramatta, NSW. The centre will provide cyber training and cyber incident response support for small businesses experiencing a cyber fraud event such as a data breach, ransomware attack or business email compromise.
Emergence will also implement a formal internship program, whereby WSU students will rotate through Emergence’s incident response and claims management team exposing them to the real threats of cyber-attacks and develop incident response content to educate small business on cybercrime.
Emergence Founder and CEO Troy Filipcevic said: “We are thrilled to have been awarded a portion of a Federal Government grant as part of the Cyber Security Business Connect and Protect Grants program with WSU.”
“We see daily the devastating impact cyber attacks and data breaches can have on business. I would like to thank Senator Marise Payne, the Federal Government, and WSU’s Bachelors of Cybersecurity and Behaviour department for their support in encouraging business to recognise the seriousness of being cyber wise.
“For several years now we’ve been working with WSU and, through our current work with them, we will be providing cyber fraud education with a focus on insurance for small business and training the next generation of cyber security experts through our internship program.
“In today’s digital world, cybercrime is becoming more prevalent. We believe educating and raising awareness within the community about the ramifications of cyber attacks in our day-to-day lives is a positive step in the right direction to combat cybercrime.”
The Federal Government investment is part of the Australian Government’s Cyber Security Strategy 2020.
Emergence is an award-winning underwriting agency, exclusively focused on providing flexible, innovative cyber insurance solutions to help protect Australian businesses, ranging from SMEs to ASX-listed companies, and individuals and families.
Emergence was awarded the 2019 Insurance Business magazine Underwriting Agency of the Year. It was a finalist in the same category at the 2019 ANZIIF-Asia Insurance Review awards and the 2020 Insurance Business magazine awards.
Last year, Emergence was awarded Insurance Business’s Brokers Pick for the fifth time in six years and won its third consecutive gold medal in the Cyber & IT category of the magazine’s brokers on underwriting agencies awards.