Underwriters thought the growing cyber risk landscape of the past several years would level off; however following Insurer surveys taken there is a strong belief that cyber risk will increase in 2024.
In fact, more than half — 56% — of underwriters surveyed said they believe cyber risk will increase greatly in 2024. While the survey found 2024 is bringing a shift in concern for underwriters, with privacy violations and data breaches drawing more concern than last year, ransomware remains the most significant threat — 63% ranked it their No. 1 threat for 2024.
What has been found is that “Attackers are exploiting a reality that many companies have discovered: Data is often most valuable to the company from which it is stolen.“
Another area of concern is the introduction of AI technologies as while it will introduce efficiencies to businesses, those efficiencies could introduce opportunities for errors. Hackers will also leverage AI to further their own causes.
Accordingly, this may be bad news for insurance buyers already frustrated at the amount of information required to complete a cyber insurance application, however it is believed that more information will be required from those seeking insurance. That said more Insureds are investing strongly in the improvement of their security standards to influence premium savings.
The cyber insurance market will continue to evolve as external factors affect the market such as wars, governmental and regulatory changes are introduced and the ever-present influence of AI in our lives.
