Some companies are concerned that if they purchase cyber insurance it would make them bigger targets for hackers. This is a myth. Some companies are concerned that if they purchase cyber insurance it would make them bigger targets for hackers. This is a myth. (Photo: Roman Chazov/Shutterstock.com)

Headlines about large-scale hacks, data breaches, and other types of cyberattacks are in the news every other day. Last year we saw a major uptick in cybercriminal activity in general, and the forecast for 2022 doesn't look great either. Consequently, more businesses raise the serious question of what they can do to mitigate the risks and improve the odds of surviving an attack. In part, the answer is cyber insurance — an insurance policy designed to protect businesses from the fallout due to cyberattacks, data breaches, and other hacking-related threats.

The issues of 'when' rather than 'if'

In the past 12 months, cybercrooks had no days off, as we saw a 50% increase in cyberattacks per week on corporate networks compared to 2020. Arguably, small and medium-sized businesses felt the increase the most. This is in large part due to the evolution of ransomware attacks. Ransomware as a service — which essentially unites cybercrooks into a singular business-type unit that provides the service of carrying out specifically designed and targeted ransomware attacks on businesses — has been the trend of the year.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.