This year's GAUSS award goes to a three-person team of researchers, which has developed novel approaches for the pricing of cyber insurances. The German Society for Insurance and Financial Mathematics (DGVFM) and the German Association of Actuaries (DAV) have awarded Prof. Dr. Stefan Weber and M. Sc. Kerstin Weske (Leibniz University Hannover), as well as Prof. Dr. Matthias Fahrenwaldt (Heriot-Watt University/Edinburgh) at the International Congress of Actuaries in Berlin. The award is endowed with 10,000 euros.
"So far, cyber risks are considered as barely insurable, because there are no concepts for the appropriate pricing of major claims. The award-winning academic work by Prof. Dr. Stefan Weber, Kerstin Weske, and Prof. Dr. Matthias Fahrenwaldt can fill the gap", emphasises Prof. Dr. Ralf Korn, CEO of DGVFM. With their academic work "Pricing of Cyber Insurance Contracts", the three actuary researchers make an outstanding contribution towards the insurance of businesses and individuals against the material damage caused by cyber attacks. According to Europol, these caused damages amounting to 450 billion dollars worldwide in 2016 - 65 billion thereof in Germany. "Without doubt, the triumph of the Internet of Things will increase that amount significantly over the next years", Prof. Korn outlines the demand for correspondent insurance products during the award ceremony at the International Congress of Actuaries (ICA 2018) in Berlin.
In the selection process, the jury, which consists of representatives from science and practice, paid special attention to mathematically challenging execution and models, as well as a clear practical application. The GAUSS award exists since 1998 and is awarded annually by the DGVFM and the DAV. Its aim is to motivate actuaries, insurance or financial mathematicians to address unsolved problems in actuarial science.
