Cyber Risk

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Cybercrime, including ransomware, is one of the top challenges facing organizations today. Businesses across the globe are suffering staggering cyber-related losses, losing around $60 billion on cyber crime annually.  

We are excited to launch our thought leadership campaign, “Cyber Insurance claims: Minimize risk, maximize recovery,” which provides a comprehensive look into the key issues relating to cyber insurance and ransomware claims and how clients can minimize their risk and maximize their recovery before and after a cyberattack.Continue Reading Cyber insurance claims: Minimize risk, maximize recovery

In light of the growing concern over cybersecurity, the United Stated Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued guidance last week on how to prepare for and respond to cyber attacks.  Taking lessons learned by federal prosecutors while handling cyber investigations, and input from private sector companies that have managed cyber incidents, the guidance contains a step-by-step guide on what to do before, during and after a cyber incident.

Specifically, the DOJ recommends having a plan in place before any cyber attacks occur.  That plan should include identifying critical data and assets that warrant increased security, having the technology and services needed to respond to a cyber incident in place, having legal counsel that is familiar with legal issues associated with cyber incidents, and ensuring that your team knows who is responsible for what tasks in the event of an attack.   If an attack happens, the DOJ recommends assessing the scope of the incident and working quickly to prevent any on-going damage, collecting and preserving data related to the attack, and notifying law enforcement.  The DOJ cautions against using any systems that have been compromised and trying to “hack back” against the system involved in the attack.Continue Reading United States Department of Justice Announces “Best Practices” for Addressing Cyber Attacks

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced last week a series of measures it plans to take “to help strengthen cyber hacking defenses at insurers.” Those measures include, among other things: regular, targeted assessments of cyber security preparedness at insurance companies; putting forward enhanced regulations requiring institutions to meet heightened standards for cyber security; and considering the ways in which NYDFS can support and encourage the development of the cyber security insurance market. The NYDFS stated that it plans to initiate these measures in the coming weeks and months.
Continue Reading New York Department of Financial Services Announces New Cyber Security Measures Directed at Strengthening Insurers’ Cyber Defenses

A recent study reports that the median amount of time between a breach of a company’s computer network and the discovery of the incident is 229 days. But some cyberliability policy forms require that both the breach event and discovery of loss (or resulting claim) occur during the policy period. So what happens when a breach is discovered three months into the policy period but, unbeknownst at the time, the intrusion actually occurred six months before, or even earlier? If your company’s cyberliability insurance policy excludes breach events occurring before the inception of the policy period, the company could find itself without coverage for an otherwise-covered claim or loss.
Continue Reading Hackers Don’t Care About Your Insurance

Since the President’s February 2013 Executive Order directing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to lead the development of a voluntary framework to address and reduce cyber risks, the agencies and stakeholders involved have been exploring whether to tie the February 2014 Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (the NIST Framework) to incentives such as cyberliability insurance. For example, in a Report to the President on Cybersecurity Incentives, the Treasury Department suggested that “[c]yber insurance can promote adoption of stronger security measures” because, among other reasons, “insurers could require policyholders to comply with minimum security standards as a condition of insurance coverage, including adoption of the Framework.”

The Treasury Department held a public meeting on November 6 that included a discussion of developments in the market for cyberliability insurance and the NIST Framework.
Continue Reading As Federal and State Agencies Warn of Increased Cyber Threats, Insurance Incentives for Compliance with NIST Cybersecurity Framework May Be on the Horizon

The evolving market for cyberliability insurance coverage reveals significant differences in the scope of coverage afforded under available policies. A coverage gap that may exist under some policies is for insider cyber attacks. While external attacks receive substantial news coverage, a recent study finds that businesses may be far less equipped to stave off attacks involving insiders: employees, vendors, suppliers and others who may have authorized access to critical or sensitive data.
Continue Reading Beware Of Gaps In Your Cyber Risk Policy – Are You Covered In the Event of an Insider Attack or Data Breach?