Quote:Ransomware victims are increasingly falling back on their cyber-insurance providers to pay the ransom when they’re hit with an extortion cyberattack. But security researchers warn that this approach can quickly become problematic.
In the first half of 2020, ransomware attacks accounted for 41 percent of the total number of filed cyber-insurance claims, according to a Cyber Claims Insurance Report released last year by Coalition.
And indeed, in real-world attacks over the past two years, many companies afflicted by ransomware acknowledged that they had utilized cyber-insurance to deal with either the ransom itself or the ensuing cost of remediation.
For instance, weeks after Riviera Beach, Fla. was hit by ransomware in June 2019, the city council held an emergency meeting. It voted unanimously to authorize the city’s insurer to pay off a $600,000 ransom demand, after the malware had frozen crucial data. Adversaries also took systems that control city finances and utilities offline.
That same month, Lake City, Fla. paid ransomware attackers almost $500,000, which the city announced would be mostly covered by insurance.
More recently, in August 2020, the University of Utah coughed up a $457,000 ransom payment, working with its cyber-insurance provider, after an attack targeted the university’s servers, and student and faculty data.
Ransomware victim Colonial Pipeline also reportedly had cyber-insurance protection through broker Aon and Lloyd’s of London. The energy firm did pay $4.4 million to attackers. However, it unclear whether the firm utilized its policy to pay. According to a Routers news report, Colonial Pipeline had a policy that covered it for at least $15 million.
Read more: Cyber-Insurance Fuels Ransomware Payment Surge | Threatpost
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