Digital Assets Storage Gets New Insurance Cover

Jackie Bennion

10 June 2020

Tel Aviv based said that blackmail and ransomware attacks were up by 144 per cent in 2019 and over half of those organisations paid a ransom to settle. Its research also revealed that 66 per cent of companies that paid the ransom were not able to retrieve their data. Business professionals told the firm that lack of cybersecurity training, not having skilled employees, and falling for phishing attacks were the most common cyber-incident causes.

Companies are facing far greater scrutiny from insurers in return for how they are going about securing remote working practices, and cyber insurance cover is expected to rise even more. Fitch ratings agency reported that the cost of cyber insurance was up by around 50 per cent last year. Companies are also trying to stay ahead of GDPR regulations in Europe and California's tough Consumer Privacy Act as two examples that carry heavy penalties for data breaches.

Earlier this year the FBI warned of crypto-related scams on the rise noting that “many traditional financial crimes and money laundering schemes are now orchestrated via cryptocurrencies.” The Better Business Bureau in the US has also flagged crypto-related fraud as a higher risk than other types of fraud, including payments fraud.