As the Information Economy continues to flourish, businesses are beginning to encounter many emerging risks, and often learning how to protect against them the hard way.

An emerging risk is any new risk that is in the process of being quantified and understood, and has the potential to substantially impacting on a business or insurance policy. Think of how technology has changed our definition of privacy and security, even the definition of “insurance agent”. Like these technologies, emerging risks can infiltrate any part of your business or personal life and have a huge impact.

Here’s 3 of the biggest emerging risks that Businesses are struggling to deal with in 2013:

Cyber Risks

Cyber security may not sound like an emerging risk, but the truth is, Cyber-risks are increasing prevalent in modern businesses. Risk managers are turning their attention to finding solutions to manage their cyber risks and protect their companies’ data against cyber attacks and the manipulation of sensitive information. One of the most common methods of securing data is backing it up either externally or, preferably, internally. Backing up client information, ensures that technical faults don’t result in a failure of the business.

Social Media Risks

For all its accessibility and cost-efficiency, Social Media is something that can come back to bite you if you don’t treat it with adequate care, and it is rightly regarded as one of the most difficult emerging risks to handle for businesses. There is an element of unpredictability in Social Media that makes it difficult to predict how the public, media and other businesses will perceive you. There is always the possibility that the public may interact among one another or provide feedback that can negatively impact your organization’s brand and image, while there is always the risk of employee dissemination of proprietary information that further harms the reputation of your organization.

Economic Conditions

Of course, the risk posed by Economic Conditions is something Businesses should have been well-accustomed to since their establishment, however, the Economy is ever-changing and the impacts economic conditions have on businesses are always fluctuating and evolving. While it may not be an emerging risk as such, changing economic conditions should constitute a constant review process from Businesses so that they can ensure they are constantly protected against various emerging risks stemming from changing economic conditions.

In this ever-shifting environment, it’s becoming more and more important to adapt to the regular emergence of new risks. Underwriters and staff can benefit from training and awareness of proper risk management strategies to reduce damage to the company’s image while the misuse of client’s information can be mitigated through proper use of cyber security and training. The nature of emerging risks is that it is mostly unknown. Even then, it’s still possible and important to stay on top of trends to ensure a single incident won’t bring the company down.

If your Risk Management Strategy needs a review, ask one of our Risk Management experts for advice on how to account for emerging risks.