The Lloyd’s syndicate has recruited two cyber defence specialists to provide expert insight to its underwriting team, broker partners and clients

Daniel Carr and Joe Hancock

AEGIS London claims to be the first Lloyd’s syndicate to recruit cyber security experts from the security and defence sector as it seeks to boost its cyber product and service offering.

Joe Hancock and Daniel Carr both join AEGIS London from BAE Systems, the defence, security and technology specialist. Their joint role at AEGIS London will be to provide insight into the latest developments in cyber security and offer their knowledge to the syndicate’s broker partners and clients.

Both take up their new posts with immediate effect, reporting to AEGIS London head of cyber insurance Rick Welsh.

Welsh said: “We’ve brought in Joe and Dan because of their first-hand cyber security and technical expertise and their relationships with the wider security community.

“They will be working together with our cyber underwriting team although their role is primarily outward-facing: analysing global cyber developments and liaising with their peers in the defence and security sectors.

“Our aim is to provide a deep level of cyber expertise that is both currently unique and unrivalled anywhere else in the insurance market. This reinforces our position of supporting strong risk management and cyber security for our clients.”

Hancock was previously a senior manager at the BAE Systems Applied Intelligence division leading the energy cyber security consulting area. Having worked in industry and academia, Hancock joined Deloitte LLP’s enterprise risk services team in London before moving to BAE Systems. He has experience in assessing and mitigating cyber security risk across a range of sectors and technology areas.

Carr began his career with the UK’s Ministry of Defence in a range of security roles before joining the BAE Systems Applied Intelligence division. His experience includes securing high-end military systems, developing government cyber risk management frameworks and advising on critical national infrastructure across numerous sectors.

The arrivals of Hancock and Carr come four months after the firm launched CyberResilience − the first cyber insurance solution for the energy and critical infrastructure sectors to protect against both traditional cyber risk, such as privacy and data loss, as well as threats to operational technology, such as physical damage and bodily injury.

The business says it is developing a suite of related cyber solutions to launch in the coming months and AEGIS active underwriter David Croom-Johnson believes having expert insight will set the firm apart from its competitors.  

He said: “In such a volatile and fast-moving environment, knowledge is the key – knowledge of the evolving cyber risks, and knowledge of the true extent to which cyber can affect an insurer’s portfolio.

“Although some in the market are wary of cyber and liken it to a dangerous iceberg, at AEGIS London, we believe, with the right knowledge and skill set, cyber is to be embraced. If Lloyd’s does not seize this moment, other markets will.”