Cyber Insurance Companies
More and more cyber insurance companies are offering cyber liability and data breach insurance. First, cyber insurance is a good way to protect your company. Next, cyber attacks and cyber threats can be bad for your company. Finally, cyber insurance can help protect against these losses if they happen.
In the US, $1.11 billion in premiums were earned by 46 groups of companies that sell cyber insurance. The top 10 of those groups wrote 82% of all of the cyber insurance premiums in America.
According to NAIC’s 2019 Cybersecurity Supplement Report, most insurance companies in California, New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio offer cyber insurance. These states hold 21% of the cyber market share. Cyber Insurance companies in Germany are more likely to sell standalone policies and include it with standard liability coverage.
In the US, cyber insurance is a fairly new thing. In 2018, the total amount of money for cyber insurance was $1.11 billion and it is still growing fast. That number is less than 1% of the total amount of money in the commercial property and casualty industry (which covers things like fire or car accidents).
Now, 42% of the total cyber risk for US businesses is covered by cyber insurance companies. This has grown since 2016 when only 12% was covered.
Why do I need Cyber Liability Insurance
Cybercrime is any crime that involves a computer and a network. A computer might have been used to commit the crime or it might be the target. One example of cybercrime is internet fraud – which includes identity theft, advance fee fraud, email spoofing, credit card fraud, online auction fraud and other examples . Hacking computers is also considered a form of cybercrime. Another form of cybercrime is spamming or sending emails that are not wanted. Cybercriminals also use malware or programs that can damage your computer’s software.
Why do I need Data Breach Insurance?
Data breach is when someone steals your sensitive information. Sometimes this can lead to problems like identity theft, fraud, or cyberbullying.
A denial-of-service attack is when a computer system gets too much information. It can’t process all the information, so it stops working.
Phishing is when someone tries to get your information by pretending to be a company you know and trust. For example, they might send an email that looks like it came from your bank. They want you to give them your password or credit card number.
Some people use ransomware to block your computer. They want you to pay them money. You can get your files back after you pay them that money. This is difficult for law enforcement agencies because the criminals are not in the same country, so it is hard for them to investigate what happened.
What are some of the claims covered by Cyber Insurance?
Cybercriminals send spam emails to many people. The email has a virus that infects your computer when opened.
URL spoofing is when someone makes a website that looks like it is from the government, but it’s not. They use this to trick people and they can steal their information.
In cyberattacks, criminals use a fake website to get your username and password. They do this with a phishing email. This attack was used on major financial institutions such as Bank of America, Capital One, and TD Ameritrade.
Criminals sent emails to potential victims that lead them to fake bank websites. One example was an email from Wells Fargo Bank. The cybercriminals wanted the victim to enter their username and password so they could try and steal it.
In the second phishing example, criminals sent emails that looked like they were from Citibank. They then made a website that looked just like Citibank’s official website. If you didn’t notice any differences, it would be hard to tell the difference between the fake site and the real one. This is called brand spoofing.
Website security: The cyber security industry has created tools that can help stop cyber attacks before they infect your computer. These kinds of tools are often described as cybersecurity software. It is available to the public with a subscription service.
Cybercriminals have now turned their attention to the organization responsible for managing web addresses on the internet. This has resulted in a fourfold increase of cyberattacks this past year.
A lot of money is paid to cybercriminals every month. Tens of millions are paid every month as ransom fees for ICANN attack examples.
How Cybercriminals are making it tough for cyber security insurance providers
In June, cybercriminals attacked an executive of ICANN using a phishing attack. They asked for the password which would allow them to access their email account and individual webpages.
Cyber criminals attacked the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. They did it by using ransomware, which means they demanded money to return control of the websites back to ICANN. If they did not get their ransom, then they would attack specific DNS servers around the world and take down major websites like Google or Amazon. Criminals are focusing on creating fake domain name server systems so that they can sell them at a profit in order to make more money in this field. Hackers might use these systems and change the information to go to a site with malware. They can steal people’s personal information and money without their knowledge. Hackers have stolen $100 million this way so far today.
Can Software negate my need for Cyber Insurance?
Most cybersecurity software is now able to stop cyberattacks before data is lost or stolen. This form of attack protection allows companies to proactively monitor cybercriminal activity and take action if necessary. It also ensures that IT teams can identify risk areas within the business to streamline security measures and improve company cyber resilience.
It is important to update your antivirus software and follow other cyber security practices. For example, never click on a link inside an email that you did not expect. This will help to protect you from being attacked by a cyberattack.
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