Cyber attack fears push up hack insurance
Increasing fears over potential cyber attacks has pushed up the number of firms taking out hack insurance.
Research from insurance broker Marsh has found 83 per cent of respondents say they have a basic or complete understanding of their company’s cyber exposure, compared to 61 per cent last year.
According to Marsh almost a third of businesses (29 per cent) have bought, or are in the process of buying, cyber attack insurance, up from 14 per cent last year.
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Some recent high profile cyber attacks have caused companies to take notice of the dangers of a hack. Late last year internet service provider TalkTalk was hit by an attack that it is still working to recover from. In the US an attack on retailer Target forced its chief executive to resign.
TalkTalk chief executive Dido Harding has previously called for firms to be made to report all data breaches following last year’s devastating cyber attack on the company.
Companies do not currently have to immediately report details of cyber attacks, meaning many customers may be unknowingly at risk.
Read more: An eye for an eye, a hack for a hack – The global cyber arms race is heating up
“A lot of big firms are being attacked regularly, however the train has left the station and there are few company boards that now fail to recognise the risks,” said Mark Weil, chief executive of Marsh UK and Ireland.