Contradictory to earlier claims that they had no intention of paying an extortion fee to restore the country's largest fuel pipeline, Colonial Pipeline has reportedly paid nearly $5 million to Eastern European hackers on Friday, according to two people familiar with the transaction.

Let's look at how having a good cyber insurance policy possibly saved the company from the expenses and woes that ensued from the time Colonial Pipeline discovered the system hack. Sources told Reuters last Thursday that the company had a cyber policy in effect arranged by broker AON, with Lloyd's of London insurers.

With a cyber policy in effect, it is likely the insurer may have stepped in at the onset of the time the company first discovered their system had been breached (hacked), or when the company received a cyber extortion threat, whichever came first. The insurer would have assisted the company in responding to the public and to the extortionists (threat agents).