The seemingly endless string of companies suffering cyber-attacks and data breaches has caused the cost of cyber insurance to skyrocket in recent years, according to a recent report.
While the affordability of password managers and similar cybersecurity tools makes equipping staff with protections a no-brainer, the cost of cyber insurance coverage creates a daunting decision for business chiefs.
In fact, for some, it’s not even an economically viable option, leaving companies to shoulder the risks themselves.
The Cost of Cyber Insurance
Head of international cyber insurance Broker Marsh, Sara Stephens, told the Financial Times that cyber insurance prices started to rise towards the end of 2019.
In the US, cyber insurance costs had risen more than 100% year-on-year by late 2021 but has decreased to around a 48% increase year-on-year by the third quarter of 2022.
Falling prices between 2010 and 2018, coupled with a rise in ransomware attacks demanding huge payouts, meant the market “had become underpriced,” Lloyd’s Chief executive John Neal told the paper.
With the costs now so astronomical, more and more companies are taking a gamble and just not purchasing insurance against cyber-attacks.
A Dangerous Time to Be Online
Cyber insurance costs are, of course, rising in line with a huge uptick in cyber-attacks, including data breaches, which increase during the pandemic.
According to McAffee data from 2021, 81% of global organizations experienced increased cyber threats during COVID-19.
Security firm Check Point Research says that the “average weekly attacks per organization worldwide” reached over 1,130 in the third quarter of 2022, with global attacks increasing 28% year-on-year.
Improving Your Defenses
Although we’d strongly advise every business to consider cyber insurance, there are other, more affordable steps you can take to ensure you’re less likely to suffer a cyber-attack.
If you have staff working remotely, then ensure you’re using a business VPN in order to grant them secure, encrypted remote access to company documents, files, and information.
Password managers, on the other hand, will ensure that your staff not only have sufficiently long and unique passwords for their work accounts but also for their personal accounts, such as for social media.
Lastly, cyber training is essential — even if it’s just simple initiatives like creating fake phishing campaigns to test staff resolve against social engineering threats.
Taking these steps will decrease the chance you’ll have to shoulder the heavy costs associated with data breaches.
