“As awareness of the need for this insurance has grown – particularly in sectors that deal with financial transactions online, like foreign exchange – the sector’s become more prominent and attracted much more competition.”
In O’Brien’s experience, one of the biggest costs of cyberattacks and incidents isn’t the price of the ransom itself, but the expenses associated with hiring forensic IT companies to investigate potential data breaches and exposures. Since many of these costs are picked up by the insurer, cyber insurance has become less profitable over time.
“Though there’s a general hardening market in insurance, I think we’ll see a hardening of the cyber insurance market in particular over the next couple of years,” O’Brien stated. “I can see it actually becoming unattainable for some businesses, especially if they don’t have the right risk management practices in place.”
Read more: SolarWinds trojan hack could cost cyber insurers AU$116 million
At Kobe, O’Brien is focused on providing “bespoke, tailored advice” to clients who look beyond the initial price tag and understand…
