The past half-decade has been a particularly tumultuous one for cybersecurity. It has borne witness to some of the most damaging attacks in history, unprecedentedly high data breach rates, and a staggering number of emerging threat groups. However, a new report from cyber insurance provider Coalition suggests that things are beginning to stabilize.
In a world where technology is intertwined with everything we do, the digital domain is often so commonplace we don’t think about it unless something dreadful happens. Who hasn’t had a stomach-dropping phone call from the bank letting you know that thieves have stolen your credit card number? For better or worse, technology is part of our daily lives. From working remotely to shopping online to managing finances, we’re constantly connected.
Cyber insurers are claiming that cybercriminals made ransomware attacks popular again in 2023 after a slight break in 2022. According to cyber insurer Coalition's 2023 Cyber Claims Report, claims frequency increased by 27% in the first half of this year compared to the second half of 2022. Additionally, cyber insurer Resilience Cyber Insurance Solutions mid-year report showed a similar trend with 16.2% of its total claims were related to ransomware attacks.
Cyberthreats and ransomware attacks can be crippling for public sector organizations. The cost of ransomware attacks in government often runs into the millions of dollars, which mostly stems from downtime and recovery (or in some cases, paying the ransom). A Sophos’ 2023 “State of Ransomware” report noted that in 2023 the K-12 education sector has seen the highest ransomware attack rate of any industry, with 80% of schools reporting a ransomware attack.
As insurers become more educated on what a “secure organization” looks like, they are tightening their requirements that puts the onus on organizations to be more secure. According to Netwrix’ 2023 Hybrid Security Trends Report, 59% of organizations either have a cyber insurance policy in place or plan to purchase one within 12 months. Cyber insurers have spent the last few years learning what they don’t know about this new market.
Cyber insurance is emerging as an add-on that provides another layer of protection to cybersecurity procedures. As demand for coverage increases, it is rapidly becoming one of the main concerns of MSPs and IT executives from businesses of all types.
