Fewer Hacks Mean Lower Cyber Insurance Rates

When business is slow for cybercriminals, so it goes for companies that provide insurance protection against their activities.

Reuters reports that, according to insurance industry brokers, a dropoff in high-profile data breaches during the first three months of this year resulted in doubly good news for industries at a higher risk for hacking — such as retail and health care — who saw their cyber insurance rates reduced.

It’s a notable change from what a lot of companies experienced last year, notes Reuters, when high-profile cyberattacks on Home Depot, Target and Anthem led to increases in those same rates.

Broker firm Marsh tells the outlet that while the average price that companies in high-risk industries paid for $1 million worth of cyber insurance went up 28 percent last year to $21,642, in the first three months of this year, that number has fallen 13 percent to $18,756.

“Pricing has stabilized,” Marsh cyber insurance executive Robert Parisi commented to Reuters. “There is only so far things can go before people choke and say, ‘I’ve had enough.'”

Ben Beeson, an executive with broker Lockton, for his part, told the outlet that he has recently witnessed “leveling off” of pricing among his clients, contrasting with last year’s sharp increases motivated by the aforementioned attacks.

“We haven’t had too many Targets or Home Depots recently,” Beeson added.

This apparent good news for high-risk industries might not last long for all of them, Kevin Kalinich, global cyber practice leader with Aon Plc’s Aon Risk Solutions unit, told Reuters.

“Pricing varies dramatically,” he said, suggesting that companies that locked in rates prior to last year’s increases could get hit with sizable jumps in cost when it comes time to renew their insurance coverage.