Months ago we commented on the concerns regarding provisions to cybersecurity policies which would exclude nation state actors and other "acts of war" potentially leaving companies in a lurch post breach .  This was of concern then, but is even more a concern now that we are seeing such a huge uptick of cyberterrorist actions coming out of Russia.  Plus CISA issuing their "Shields Up" Notice as we mentioned a few weeks ago, this means those policies will be put into question by insurers over the next several months - most likely for the rest of the year...if not longer.

What does this mean for cyber insurance?

Well, as you can guess it doesn't look good. Arguably it means attacks that could be linked to Russia will not be paid out by insurers, which means organizations should reconsider their cybersecurity spend accordingly.

If you're expecting to have an insurance pay out the very expensive cost of a breach, with this news you should be looking at more immediate options.

Consider looking at an audit of your existing security processes and procedures.  If needed, add layers to your IT Security to give you more layers attackers will have to go through before they penetrate your defenses.  London Security has provided our Ransomware Risk Assessment to help customers look at potential ransomware vulnerabilities, and this approach has helped numerous businesses see their potential risks.

Are attacks increasing?

Yes, there is a dramatic increase in malware being seen around the globe.  One post has cyber attacks up by 25% in just the last two weeks.  One thing to note is the kind of malware being seen in the wild is including the Wiper Malware that Russia used to attack financial institutions in Ukraine.  This malware actually erases data, rather than encrypt it for ransom, and is incredibly damaging to any affected organization as it looks to destroy back-ups (similar to how ransomware attempts to encrypt back-ups) and is not necessarily profit motivated.

With Russian financial assets being frozen, we should all be bracing for an increase in Ransomware.  Pretty sure I didn't have to state the obvious...but just in case, there you go.

We are keeping an eye on the situation, and we will report further when we have more information regarding any of this.  If you'd like to discuss any of the information shared, please fill out the form below.