Liberty International Underwriters (“LIU”), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance, has launched a cyber extortion endorsement to its product recall and contamination insurance policy for food and beverage companies.

The company said in a statement that the endorsement offers coverage to food and beverage policyholders for cyber extortion monies and consultant costs up to the policy sub-limit for acts against production and day-to-day operations.

“With operations being mostly automated now and an increasing reliance on technology, the food and beverage industry faces a very real risk of having its systems hijacked by cyber criminals and held for ransom,” said LIU's senior vice president of global crisis management, Jane McCarthy. “But what many companies don't realize is that cyber extortion is not always covered under a typical cyber policy or by a general liability policy. We developed this to address the risks associated with new technology and 'ransomware' – malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. We are proud to be one of the first insurance markets offering this level of protection.”