Almost Half the Number of Organizations Lack Confidence in their Cyber Insurance Policies: A Survey Report

The report also found that 58 percent of organizations witnessed an increase in untargeted phishing emails and 65% have seen targeted phishing attacks grow

Apac CIOOutlook | Friday, June 10, 2016

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FREMONT, CA: Mimecast, a provider of email security services and solutions, in a recent research report states more than half of organizations are unsure that their cyber insurance policies are up to date and if it would cover the ever evolving cyber attacks.

Mimecast in a recent research report survey found 45 percent of organizations lacked confidence in their cyber insurance policies and whether it would cover new cyber social engineering attacks; with only 10 percent believing it was completely up to date. 43 percent of firms believe that their cyber insurance would pay for whaling financial transactions and 64 percent reported to not have any cyber insurance at all.

The report also found that 58 percent of organizations witnessed an increase in untargeted phishing emails and 65% have seen targeted phishing attacks grow. 67 percent have seen a spike in whaling attacks and 50 percent have seen social engineering attacks that utilize malicious macros in attachments increase.

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CEO fraud or whaling attacks are targeting organizations on the rise and insured organizations aren’t aware if their cyber insurance policies are up to date and whether they cover newer forms of cybersecurity attacks. With these whaling attacks cyber criminals dupe employees to make fraud transactions on behalf of a CEO or CFO.

“Cyber insurance uptake is growing quickly but a lack of employee training on the latest email attacks is leaving organizations at great risk of breaking policy terms,”says Steven Malone, director of security product management, Mimecast.“While insurers often pay for clean-up fees after a breach, it is important that organizations check that their policies protect them if an employee is tricked into sending a large amount of money to a fraudulent account. Attacks where employees are tricked into sending personal data or intellectual property are even less likely to be fully covered.”