Cyber-attacks on the rise but the prevailing apathy in its insurance

- Indian cyber insurance market has been growing at 35-50% for the past two years: currently in the range of $400 million

Over the last few years, there has been a significant increase in cyber attacks on various organizations across the country, but there has been no increase as far as the pace of adoption of cyber insurance policies is concerned. According to insurance experts, increasing awareness about the risk of cyber attacks has led to a significant increase in inquiries. But as far as cyber insurance policies are concerned, there has been no noticeable change in the purchase of insurance by companies in various sectors.

Insurance experts said, 'Banking, IT,. A small segment of companies and manufacturers are actively taking coverage to avoid cyber threats. However, most organizations, including government organizations, generally do not have coverage to protect against cyber threats.'

The situation now is that while cyber risk has increased over the past few years, the purchase of cyber insurance is lagging behind. Cyber ​​insurance coverage will see a further increase whenever data protection regulations come into effect, he said. The cyber insurance segment has seen good growth over the past few years, especially after the Kovid-19 pandemic, although this is because the base is low.

According to official data, the Indian cyber insurance market has been growing at a rate of 35-50 percent annually for the last two years. According to industry estimates, the cyber insurance market is currently in the $400 million range.

As far as cyber risk is concerned, more and more companies are now looking to cover it as the risk has increased. Financial institutions that work with various types of data in companies also want cover against such data risks.

Claims have started pouring in and in some cases we have suffered losses. While in others companies have been successful in thwarting cyber threats. Attacks were faced. Due to which the services in the hospital are now being done manually.

According to government data, there were 674,021 cyber-attacks in the country till June this year, and in this context, about 3,700 cyber-attacks took place in a single day. Cyber ​​attacks have occurred in all sectors from health to finance and insurance to electricity. Critical industries such as power distribution, telecommunications equipment and banking have faced domestic and foreign attacks in recent years.

Indian companies have faced a large number of cyber attacks this year. According to an insurance industry official, government entities are generally self-insured and do not seek services for any coverage such as cyber insurance. Listed PSUs and some Navaratnas have taken cyber insurance coverage. Because it is the policy laid down by the board for them.