Ransomware and cyber insurance

Ransomware is fast becoming the most immediate threat to many organizations. Hardly a day goes by without the media reporting successful attacks even against tech savvy organizations. This is prompting many organizations to consider cyber insurance against ransomware demands. However, the rising risks are increasing both the premiums and software requirements placed by insurance brokers.

Cyber insurance coverage is therefore still at low levels. According to BlackBerry and Corvus Insurance survey of US based companies, only 19% of all businesses surveyed have ransomware coverage limits above the median ransomware demand amount ($600,000). The survey is focused on SME organizations as defined by US standards (which means large ones in Southeast Europe region). This means the ransomware insurance coverage is probably at even lower levels among SMB businesses in the SEE region, barely covering a fraction of costs associated with typical ransomware attacks. The issue is becoming so widespread, no wonder some are already calling for government to step in and support the insurance market.

As cyber insurance premiums are rising quickly, reflecting rising risks, policies are also becoming more prescriptive. Often, they require your organization to demonstrate key security benchmarks in order to qualify for coverage, or to increase the amount of coverage on an existing policy.

It turns out that well-implemented endpoint detection and response (EDR) software is frequently a key component to obtaining a policy. A significant number of those in the survey report EDR implementation as key to obtain cyber insurance.

Read more on the this issue at Help Net Security.

The Blackberry and Corvus cyber insurance study is here.