Cyber Insurers Note Ransomware Claims Rose Significantly in the First Half of 2023

Cyber insurers are claiming that cybercriminals made ransomware attacks popular again in 2023 after a slight break in 2022.

According to cyber insurer Coalition's 2023 Cyber Claims Report, claims frequency increased by 27% in the first half of this year compared to the second half of 2022. Additionally, cyber insurer Resilience Cyber Insurance Solutions mid-year report showed a similar trend with 16.2% of its total claims were related to ransomware attacks. As a result the cyber insurer saw a 1,100% increase in ransomware incidents from Q2 of 2023 compared to the same time period in 2022. 

But not every cyber insurer is humming the same tune - Liberty Mutual is stating that the frequency and severity of ransomware attacks have decreased after a peak from 2019 to 2021. Their reasoning as to why? They have seen an increase in cybersecurity defense investment in an effort to stop ransomware in its tracks.

Although additional cybersecurity measures have taken place, cyber insurer Resilience believes that this has allowed bad actors to shift their hacker behavior. High-profile companies and third-party service providers are the new targets as it only takes one employee to fall victim to a cyber attack. 

With the increase in impact and severity this is only going to give cyber insurers an excuse to increase their rates. The only way to truly protect your organization is new-school security awareness training. Educate your users on how to spot and report suspicious ransomware attacks before it's too late. 

KnowBe4 enables your workforce to make smarter security decisions every day. Over 65,000 organizations worldwide trust the KnowBe4 platform to strengthen their security culture and reduce human risk.

The Wall Street Journal has the full story.