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Reading time: 10 minutes

Welcome to the Pride

Every Friday we distill 200+ insurance, legal, and risk-management events into three signals your board needs Monday morning.

This week we’re summarizing a groundbreaking documentary style podcast from one of the industry’s most trusted journalists: The Voice of Insurance’s Mark Geoghegan.

Here's what caught our attention:

1. Geoghegan's cyber documentary reveals four parallel crises unfolding - while 83% of executives feel overconfident about their resilience
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2. The broker-turned-journalist advantage - Mark Geoghegan's seven years placing "weird and wonderful" Lloyd's risks gives him industry access no other insurance reporter can match
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3. Cyber attacks now include psychological warfare - threat actors research executives' families and send funeral arrangements to their homes

How Cyber Incidents Cascade Into Enterprise-Wide Emergencies

Mark Geoghegan goes much deeper into the world of cyber attacks than maybe we've ever seen before.

This special documentary-style episode of The Voice of Insurance, produced in association with Beazley, explores the insurance claims cyber attacks produce as well as all the longer-term consequences for their victims. Geoghegan reflects on how journalists covering cyber insurance often focus on the big hacks and the headline numbers. They gloss over the detail of the personal stories and the real hard yards that have to be run to recover from an attack. They miss the potential long-term consequences for a business, its directors, its customers, and all other stakeholders.

​Click here to listen to the full podcast.

Here's what makes this approach so uniquely valuable.

It explains how the immediate damage and business interruption triggers potential regulatory, statutory, and other serious third-party consequences. These hard yards often have to be run down multiple different paths simultaneously. Companies aren't dealing with one crisis—they're managing several interconnected emergencies that unfold on different timelines with different requirements and different expert teams.

Geoghegan poses the critical question: are company directors taking the threat seriously enough?

His answer is refreshingly honest: "Well, yes and no." Mark explains that Beazley’s latest tech transformation and cyber risk and resilience survey shows a significant shift in cyber risk perception and perceived resilience. For the first time since 2021, concern over cyber risk has risen, with 29% of global executives saying this risk is their greatest threat, up from 26% in 2024. The awareness is definitely growing. Geoghegan recommends downloading the survey data, calling it fascinating and worth the deep dive.

But here's where the documentary identifies something strange.

Mark points out that even as executives' awareness of cyber risk grows, they seem to feel more prepared than ever. He notes that these same executives' perception of their resilience to such threats has risen from 75% in 2024 to 83% this year. He suggests it's highly likely that many are underestimating the true threat. Recent high-profile ransomware attacks on major UK retailers that have made it clear that failure to recognize this reality leaves businesses increasingly vulnerable to today's fast-evolving digital threats.

LION POV: This in-depth interview will deepen your understanding of the more complex and long-tail nature of this peril.

Mark's approach is brilliantly immersive. He wants to put listeners right in the room, in the shoes of the directors of a company as an attack unfolds. Taking us behind the scenes to uncover what it's really like when a business becomes the target of a digital assault. From the immediate shock to the long-term repercussions that are often ignored by boards. He also promises to go into detail on how the nature of the cyber threat and the tactics of cyber criminals are evolving.

To navigate this complex landscape, Geoghegan has assembled a team of experts who live on the front lines.

Magnus Jelen, is the first guest. He is director of incident response, EMEA for Coveware, a firm that helps victims of cyber extortion recover their data. From Beazley, there are three senior executives: Raf Sanchez, head of cyber services and cyber risks; Melissa Collins, head of third-party cyber and tech claims; and Wayne Imrie, head of London market wholesale executive risks. Magnus and Raf are right on the front line dealing with the immediate consequences of these kinds of hacks. Magnus even deals with the hackers themselves. Melissa deals with the external insurance claims that result. Wayne is a director and officers broker specialist who has a deep understanding of how the D&O and Cyber insurance products interact.

Geoghegan sets up the conversation perfectly.

He begins at the very beginning: the moment a cyber attack is discovered, when the balloon goes up and a dread sinking feeling sets in. Mark asks about the immediate priorities for those on the front lines such as the incident response teams. His question to Magnus is direct and vivid: "You're the sort of fire brigade. What are your very first priorities? What do you want to establish when you've first been called in?"

Part three below takes a deeper dive into the documentary. But first a quick CV detour…

The Broker Who Became The Voice of Insurance

Mark Geoghegan can spot a story that others miss.

It's not just his training as a journalist. It's not his investigative instinct that earned him multiple Journalist of the Year awards. It's the seven years he spent placing "weird and wonderful" international risks into Lloyd's as a broker—experience no other insurance journalist can claim.

That's why CEOs tell him things they won't tell anyone else.

The Accidental Broker

Mark never planned to work in insurance.

He graduated from the University of Bristol with a degree in Hispanic Studies, fluent in Spanish and dreaming of journalism…But first, he needed to earn a living. In 1992, he joined Gil y Carvajal, Spain's largest insurance broker with Lloyd's status.

What started as a language-leveraging detour became a masterclass in specialty risk.

For seven years, Geoghegan handled the complex international business flowing between Madrid and London—contingency insurance, liability programs for major utilities, the risks Spanish markets couldn't touch. He became one of only three or four brokers in London handling this specialized business.

Then the consolidation wave hit.

The Pivot That Changed Everything

When Aon acquired Gil y Carvajal in 1998, Geoghegan faced a choice: navigate corporate politics or take redundancy.

He chose freedom.

The redundancy package gave him what he calls "Dutch courage"—the financial cushion to finally pursue journalism. After cutting his teeth in investment publications during the early 2000s, he landed at Reinsurance Magazine in 2005.

The timing couldn't have been better.

The Investigative Force

Insurance Insider hired him in 2008, where he would spend the next 11 years establishing himself as the industry's most formidable investigative journalist.

His technical credibility unlocked sources. His broker background meant he spoke the market's language fluently. When Geoghegan called, executives answered—because they knew he understood the nuances others missed.

The results were undeniable:

2008: BIBA Scoop of the Year for exposing a Costa Rican corruption scandal involving Guy Carpenter.

2009: Another BIBA award for revealing the D&O insurers caught in the Madoff fallout.

2011: A third BIBA award for yet another market-moving investigation.

But a larger opportunity loomed beyond the breaking news.

The Podcast Pioneer

In 2019, while most journalists were chasing clicks, Geoghegan launched something different: The Voice of Insurance.

The concept was simple yet revolutionary. Instead of extracting information through investigative pressure, he would create a platform for nuanced, engaging conversations with industry leaders. A place where CEOs could explain their thinking without fear of gotcha journalism.

The market responded immediately.

Over 250 episodes featuring the industry's most influential voices. More than 300,000 downloads. The Best Digital or Broadcast Award at BIBA 2020. In just four years, The Voice of Insurance became the industry's most trusted source of executive insights.

What makes it work? The same thing that made him effective as a broker and journalist—he speaks the language.

The Technical Translator

The insurance industry runs on specialized knowledge.

When Geoghegan interviews a CEO about casualty clash aggregation or collateralized reinsurance structures, he's not nodding along while mentally formulating his next question. He's engaging as a peer who has personally placed these risks.

This technical fluency creates a different kind of interview.

Executives relax. They dive deeper. They address the nuances they normally avoid with journalists who might misunderstand. The result is conversation that illuminates rather than simplifies—giving listeners insights they can't find anywhere else.

That's why LinkedIn cut him off at 30,000 connections! He literally exceeded the platform's capacity for professional relationships

The Voice That Matters

What Geoghegan built isn't just a podcast. It's the industry's most important conversation.

Having witnessed the evolution from paper slips to digital placement, from investigative print journalism to on-demand audio content, Geoghegan provides context few others can offer. He connects today's innovation to yesterday's foundations.

This perspective makes him invaluable in an industry navigating unprecedented change.

Every week, he sits down with the leaders shaping insurance's future. They speak candidly because they know he understands. They reveal their thinking because they trust his expertise. They participate because The Voice of Insurance has become essential listening for decision-makers worldwide.

That's the power of authentic expertise—something no amount of media training can fake.

In an age of algorithmic content and manufactured authority, Geoghegan represents something increasingly rare: genuine knowledge earned through decades of market experience, transformed into a platform that elevates the entire industry's discourse.

The broker-turned-journalist-turned -podcast-pioneer has found his perfect role.

He amplifies the voices that matter while adding context only he can provide.

And the market is listening.

When Hackers Send Funeral Arrangements to Your Home

Going deeper, this documentary-style episode on cyber attacks reveals the hidden devastation most companies never see coming.

When most journalists cover cyber incidents, they focus on the immediate breach—the headlines, the number of records stolen, the ransom paid. They miss the cascading disasters that follow, the multiple crises unfolding simultaneously, and the years of liability that can destroy careers long after systems are restored.

That's the difference between coverage and insight.

The First 48 Hours: When Minutes Matter

"The first 48 hours are absolutely critical," explains Magnus Jelen, Director of Incident Response at Coveware.

Containment becomes the immediate priority, but must happen alongside forensic investigation that answers crucial questions. Who are the attackers? What data have they accessed? Are they still present?

Raf Sanchez, Beazley's head of cyber services, notes that threat actors are getting faster, with shorter "dwell times" between initial access and attack execution.

Better defenses are forcing criminals to move quicker, but this speed also gives companies less time to detect and respond.

Most organizations will face this crisis unprepared.

The Four Parallel Crises

What makes cyber attacks uniquely devastating is that leadership must manage four simultaneous emergencies:

The operational crisis: Can core business functions continue? The technical crisis: How to secure systems and recover data? The reputational crisis: How to maintain stakeholder trust? The legal/regulatory crisis: How to meet disclosure obligations while minimizing liability?

"These incidents are not technology problems. They are enterprise-wide problems," Sanchez explains. What begins as a technical breach quickly cascades into potential legal liability.

Melissa Collins, head of third-party cyber claims at Beazley, reveals how rapidly this transformation happens. "The most common types of third party liability lawsuits we see are data breach class actions. And these typically happen right after a breach."

Within days of a public breach disclosure, the plaintiff's bar mobilizes.

The Evolution of Digital Predators

While corporate defenses improve, threat actors evolve into something far more sinister.

"We've definitely seen a real acceleration in the use of personal information against our clients," Sanchez reveals. Hackers now leverage deeply personal information—making calls to executives' homes, sending funeral arrangements to their addresses, and threatening family members.

It's extortion evolved to psychological warfare.

Today's attackers have customer service departments, pricing specialists, and negotiation teams. They research victims to determine optimal ransom amounts. They offer "discounts" for prompt payment.

This isn't amateur crime—it's an organized business model targeting the unprepared.

The Long Shadow of Liability

Even after systems are restored, the legal consequences have just begun.

Collins uses 23andMe as a cautionary tale. After a breach compromised genetic information of approximately 7 million users, the company faced 40 nationwide class actions, multiple regulatory investigations, a $30 million settlement, and ultimately, bankruptcy.

But the longest tail extends to directors and officers themselves.

The Personal Stakes for Directors

Wayne Imrie, head of London market wholesale executive risks at Beazley, explains the personal liability directors face when cyber incidents are mishandled.

"If we think about a major cyber incident morphing into a D&O securities class action, we could be talking 600-900 days plus before anything gets resolved," he reveals.

The most common trigger? Lack of transparency about the full operational, financial, and reputational impact. Directors face scrutiny not just for their actions during a breach, but for their preparation—or lack thereof—before it occurred.

Regulatory bodies like the SEC impose strict disclosure requirements, often demanding information within four days of an incident. This adds immense pressure to boards already navigating recovery, communications, and business continuity.

Securities class actions following cyber events have grown dramatically in both frequency and severity.

The Protection Plan Every Board Needs

The experts provide a clear roadmap for protection:

First, elevate cybersecurity to the board level. "We've seen it move from IT into operations reporting to the COO, then implementation of CISOs becoming full-time executive roles," notes Imrie.

Second, physically rehearse response plans. Companies who've practiced recovery "are able to recover faster during a live incident versus companies who simulated it but never really did it," emphasizes Jalen.

Third, understand that external expertise is essential. "One of the biggest mistakes would be if a company said, 'We'll deal with this on our own,'" Jalen warns. "It's not common for that to end in a good place."

The Voice That Makes Digital Risk Real

What makes Geoghegan's approach valuable is how he transforms technical risk into visceral understanding.

By bringing together experts from across the cyber crisis spectrum, he creates a comprehensive view of how theoretical vulnerabilities become existential threats.

The most concerning finding? While 83% of executives believe they're resilient against cyber attacks (up from 75% last year), the reality of major breaches suggests many are dangerously overconfident.

In an age where a single breach can trigger bankruptcy and personal liability, this confidence gap may be the biggest vulnerability of all.

For directors paying attention, that might be the most valuable insurance of all.

The Bottom Line

While 83% of executives feel prepared, the attacks themselves have evolved beyond recognition—from data theft to psychological warfare, from technical incidents to 900-day liability tails.

The difference between adequate coverage and actual protection often comes down to asking the right questions before the crisis hits.

That's why we created the D&O Contract Vigilance Blueprint. It's a 5-day email course to help you:

• Secure better D&O insurance: Learn how to avoid common policy mistakes
• Protect your personal assets: Understand your potential liability

​>>> Get the D&O Contract Vigilance Blueprint​

Don't wait until a claim hits to find out your institution is under-protected.

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Stay Covered,

Natasha & Mark
​Co-Founders and Managing Partners
LION Specialty