A counter argument to the "Insurance encourages ransomware" statement that's often seen...: [...] And, those who have criticized cyber insurance have some important facts wrong: Ransomware victims are rarely targeted. Why would they be? Targeting victims takes time, research and money. A better strategy for attackers is to target a specific but widespread vulnerability that will quickly cause chaos and distribute links to ransomware to the maximum number of potential vi

Real world experience and impact of cyber attacks...: [...] Councils across the UK are facing unprecedented numbers of cyber-attacks, with nearly half (49%) of local councils being targeted since the start of 2017, according to Gallagher – one of the world’s largest insurance broking, risk management and consulting services companies. Freedom of information (FOI) requests by Gallagher found that out of the 203 councils that responded, 101 had experienced an attempted cybe

Note the 'top' mitigations. This shows a woeful lack of application of best practise...: HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) today announced the results of the 2019 Travelers Risk Index, which found that cyber risks are the top concern among businesses of all sizes for the first time since the survey began in 2014. Of the 1,200 business leaders who participated in the survey, 55% said they worry some or a great deal about cyber risks,

AXA are reselling Accenture professional services. No mention of a reduction in premiums or increase in level of cover though...: [...] AXA XL will be able to offer its clients globally additional bespoke services, delivered by Accenture, that will help them understand and mitigate cyber risks. This will initially be done on an industry basis for the manufacturing, retail, healthcare and financial services industries among others, and will be expanded to cover the P&C in

We tried to do something similar at BrownGlock a few years ago for the UK insurance market. At the time, the insurance companies were not ready to offer flexible premiums. I'll be interested to see if this takes off in the US...: [...] Cowbell's approach combines data from external sources — such as that pertaining to loss costs, business interruption, regulatory compliance, and the Dark Web — with internal data about an organization's current and ongoing security posture. I

Terrorist organisations look a lot like organised crime. If ransom payments were prohibited, it would deprive both of funds...: [...] There is an outstanding article, dated August 27, 2019, by Renee Dudley for Pro Publica with the title “The Extortion Economy: How Insurance Companies Are Fueling a Rise in Ransomware Attacks,” available at https://www.propublica.org/article/the-extortion-economy-how-insurance-companies-are-fueling-a-rise-in-ransomware-attacks Dudley’s arti

It's an interesting calculation; pay the ransom or attempt to restore by yourself (assuming you have viable backups). It looks like this city in the US fell back on its insurance and took the pay-up route...: The City of Stratford paid just over $75-thousand to have its systems restored following a cyber incident in April. That information is contained in a Question and Answer document the city released on Thursday afternoon detailing the attack. In a timeline also pro

I started doing the same thing in the UK market several years ago. It seems to becoming fashionable...: [...] Insurance retailers are teaming up with tech wizards to sell cybersecurity along with cyber coverage as a means of trimming premiums and winning over customers in a vastly underserved market: small and mid-sized businesses. Coalition, a San Francisco managing general agent, last week announced that it will cut policy deductibles in half, up to $10,000, for custome