Cyber Fraud Insurance Claims Are On The Rise: Report
By Ray Schultz
Businesses hit by ransomware and other forms of attack are filing claims at a frantic pace, according to the 2020 Cyber Insurance Claims Report, a study by insurance provider Coalition. And email is the main vehicle for malicious messaging.
The leading types of attack are:
Ransomware — 41%
Funds Transfer Loss — 27%
Business Email Compromise (BEC) — 19%
These forms of attack accounted for 87% of reported incidents and 84% in the first half of 2020.
In addition, BEC attacks have increased in frequency by 67%.
The BEC claims by industry are:
Financial services — 32%
Professional services — 23%
Consumer discretionary — 13%
Healthcare —10%
Real estate — 10%
The leading attack techniques are:
Email phishing — 54%
Remote access — 29%
Other social engineering — 6%
Third-party compromise —3%
Brute force (authentication) — 3%
Other — 3%
Firms that utilize Microsoft Office 365 are 3.2 times more likely to be hit with a BEC attack than Google Gmail users, the study says.
Since the pandemic started, Coalition has seen a 35% in funds transfer fraud and social engineering claims, with losses ranging from the low thousands to $1 million per event.
Moreover, ransomware attacks have increased in severity by 47% on top of a 100% increase from 2019 to first-quarter 2020.
The industries most hit by ransomware are:
Consumer discretionary — 28%
Professional services — 16%
Healthcare — 12%
Financial services — 9%
Information technology — 8%
Larger companies — those with revenues of $100 million to $250 million — were five times more likely to get hit.
However, even smaller firms — those with revenues under $10 million — were likely to suffer six-figure losses.
“We’re in a heightened state of cyber vulnerability: human errors are more likely to be made remotely, new technology is being deployed on a daily basis to support remote work setups, and cybercriminals are taking advantage,” states Joshua Motta, CEO and co-founder of Coalition.
Credit: Media Post