Cyber Insurance Market Expected to Surge in 2021

The global cyber insurance market is projected to grow by 21% next year, reaching $9.5bn in value, according to new data by insurance firm Finaria.it.

This is as a result of greater recognition of the increasing cyber-threat landscape, exacerbated by the shift to remote working this year. Finaria added that the cyber insurance market is expected to reach $20.4bn by 2025, as more organizations look to protect themselves from malicious actors.

In its analysis, the company cited data showing that almost one-quarter of all cyber insurance claims between 2013 and 2019 were in the healthcare sector, an industry particularly heavily targeted by attackers this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare was followed by IT and telecommunications, insurance, retail and wholesale and manufacturing as the sectors with the most claims.

Almost three-quarters of claims in this period involved an insurance clause related to breach incident response and crisis management. In second place was data privacy breaches, with cyber-extortion in third.

In the first half of 2020, ransomware attacks were found to be the biggest cause of cyber insurance claims in North America.

Data from the Ponemon institute’s Cost of a Data Breach Report earlier this year was also highlighted, which showed that healthcare has the most expensive data breach costs, at $7.13m per incident, with energy in second at $6.39m per breach. This is followed by financial services ($5.85m), pharma ($5.06m) and technology ($5.04m).

Finaria.it commented: “Over the years, cyber-attacks and data breaches became one of the biggest risks in the business sector, compromising sensitive data, and causing a massive financial hit to companies and organizations worldwide. As data applications and technology in the business sector increase, organizations are becoming more vulnerable to these attacks and more aware of the need for insurance coverage for cyber-risks.

“If a costly data breach occurs, the company may not have enough resources to resolve these issues and cover the losses. Cybersecurity insurance can provide support to businesses, so cyber-attacks do not cripple their business.”

Earlier this year, a study found that more than 80% of UK businesses still don’t have cyber-related insurance, while another revealed that under 13% of SMEs in the UK have cyber insurance.