Mechanism of anti-crisis financial management of an insurance company amidst cyberattacks and digital shocks

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical generalization and develops a practical mechanism for the anti-crisis financial management of an insurance company amidst the growing intensity of cyberattacks and resulting digital shocks. The study analyzes the contemporary operating environment of the Ukrainian insurance market, characterized by high military-economic uncertainty, strict regulatory oversight by the National Bank of Ukraine on compliance with capital and solvency requirements, and accelerated digitalization of business processes. The widespread adoption of online sales and automated claims settlement, alongside business advantages, has created high technological dependence and qualitatively new threats to insurers’ financial stability. The study aims to substantiate the conceptual foundations and develop a comprehensive anti-crisis mechanism for an insurance company’s financial management to ensure its liquidity, solvency, and operational continuity under conditions of digital shocks. In the research process, a set of scientific methods was applied: systemic, structural-functional, and comparative analysis – to examine the impact factors of the digital environment and assess the limitations of traditional anti-crisis management approaches; statistical, economic-mathematical, and graphical analysis—to study the dynamics, structure, and vectors of cyberattacks on the financial sector of Ukraine in 2025; and scientific modeling—to develop the multi-level architecture of the anti-crisis mechanism. The results confirm that the financial sector remains a primary target for cybercriminals, with malware distribution, phishing, and account compromise as the main tools. It was established that classic anti-crisis management instruments, focused on retrospective ratio analysis, static reserves, and standard budgeting, prove ineffective against the high velocity of digital shock propagation, which can trigger immediate cash gaps, premium inflow disruption, and reputational damage. The research’s scientific novelty lies in developing an author-designed adaptive mechanism for anti-crisis financial management, enabling a qualitative shift from passive loss coverage to proactively building an insurer’s digital resilience. The novelty comprises measures structured across three temporal and functional levels: the preventive level involves establishing an early warning system for digital crises and modeling combined cyber scenarios within solvency stress testing; the operational level encompasses forming a targeted reserve for financial adaptation and cyber resilience along with dynamic management of highly liquid assets; the strategic level is based on cyber risk transfer through reinsurance, IT security cost optimization, and the full integration of cyber risk management into corporate governance. The practical significance of the results is that executive management in insurance companies can directly implement the proposed tools and algorithms to rapidly neutralize digital threats, maintain payment channel continuity, and preserve high customer trust during crises. Future research could develop mathematical models to formalize early-warning indicators of a digital crisis using Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, and refine actuarial calculations to determine the optimal volume of the financial adaptation reserve. Keywords: digitalization, insurance services, anti-crisis management.