With the cybersecurity landscape getting more complex and challenging, businesses and organisations across the world are opting for a cyber insurance cover – either as part of an overall insurance policy or standalone policy, reported Business Line.
India, which tops the global average in weekly cyber-attacks, is also emerging as a leading buyer of cyber covers. India is ranked sixth among the top 14 countries taking adequate cover for cyber breaches, according to a recent survey.
South Africa leads the list with 98 per cent of organisations taking a cyber insurance cover, followed by Singapore with 97 per cent, and Austria and the US with 94 per cent each.
Before going in for a policy, companies are expected to put in the needed safeguards to tackle cyber challenges.
The survey, by cybersecurity solutions company Sophos, covered 3,000 respondents across 14 countries, including 300 from India, to understand the relationship between cybersecurity, cyber insurance, and ransomware.
“They are closely connected, with both security and insurance providers focused on reducing the business impact of ransomware, one of the biggest threats facing organisations today,” Sally Adam, Senior Director (Marketing) at Sophos, said in the report, ‘The Critical Role of Frontline Cyber Defenses in Cyber Insurance Adoption’.
The respondent organisations had employees numbering 100 to 5,000. The research was conducted in January and February 2023, and reflects the organisations’ experience of ransomware and cyber insurance in the previous 12 months.
“About 81 per cent of those hit by ransomware in the previous year, and paid the ransom, reported that the quality of their defences impacted their ability to get coverage – a 35 per cent increase over the average,” she said.
Organisations with cyber insurance are more likely to be able to recover data following a ransomware incident than those without coverage.
Conversely, only 84 per cent of organisations without cyber coverage reported that they could recover data.
