One of the biggest stories of 2021 has been the big increase in ransomware attacks. While not a new phenomenon, it seems that attacks are happening more frequently, with Barracuda researchers on reporting that they’ve identified and analyzed 121 ransomware incidents so far in 2021, a 64 percent increase in attacks. The ransom demands also keep getting bigger, with Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 reporting an 82% increase in the amount of the average ransom.
With the rise in ransomware, the demand for and cost of cyber insurance is also going up. U.S. government watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, says that the proportion of existing clients opting for cyber coverage rose 46% in 2020. While it is good that more businesses are opting for coverage, the problem insurance companies have had is there is very little historical data to base rates on, like they do for other insurance products. For example, one North Carolina school board saw their rate for cyber insurance climb to $22,318 for one year, up from the previous year’s cost of $6,653. That is an increase of 235%.
These price increases have also been confirmed by two different CEOs of major insurance giants who in recent weeks have spoken about the considerable jump in cyber insurance premium prices. AIG CEO Peter Zaffino said that its own premium prices are up nearly 40% globally, with the largest increase in North America: “We continue to carefully reduce cyber limits and are obtaining tighter terms and conditions to address increasing cyber loss trends, the rising threat associated with ransomware and the systemic nature of cyber risk generally.” Meanwhile, Chubb’s Chief Executive Evan Greenberg commented: “rising prices of insurance against cyber attacks fail to take account of the potential catastrophic effects of a widespread attack.” Cyber insurance covers a range of ransomware-related costs, like extortion demands, remediation efforts and other financial losses.
As cyber risks continue to rise, so do cyber insurance rates. Rather than worry about increasing rates, there are steps your 4 steps your business can take to reduce your cyber risk, and in turn, lower your insurance rates.
- Implement multifactor authentication
- Quickly patch security vulnerabilities
- Cyber awareness training
- Store data backups offsite and offline
At Quick Intelligence and QuickProtect, we can offer your business help with these four steps. Our QuickProtect services include ransomware insurance up to $25,000.00 for recovery consulting assistance once per calendar year should you suffer a ransomware attack.
