F i nanc i a l Innov a t i on & F i nTech 50 Finance Monthly. the “most economically damaging cyber-attack of all time”. The ransomware initially targeted Ukraine’s financial, energy and government sectors, but it quickly spread indiscriminately causing billions in financial damage to western and even Russian organisations. Considering Russia has again launched attacks on Ukraine, organisations around the world should be on high alert. As the former Chief of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned, we should be increasingly concerned about another NotPetya-style event and what a “spillover” from this could mean for the UK. For cyber insurers, the risk of attacks on government, large organisations and any smaller business linked within the supply chain is simply too high not to consider. Therefore, insurance premiums are inevitably sky-high. NotPetya also formed the start of what can only be described as a ransomware crisis. Since then, breaches have led to fuel shortages and fears over food supply chains in the US, school closures in the UK and hospital disruption in Europe. The risk of ransomware is now not only critical, but also unpredictable. Operators are indiscriminate in who they target and, more often than not, are happy to target any weak organisation – from large charity to small supply chain partner. It is therefore unsurprising that cyber insurance companies are both increasing coverage costs and being more selective with who they insure. Are rising premiums a good thing? It is important to ask the question of whether cyber insurance, as an industry, may be exacerbating the issue of ransomware. If cybercriminals are aware that their financial demands will be no real loss to organisations who can quickly claim it back, will they be incentivised to target those that are covered? It is a quick and easy win, considering that research has found organisations with insurance are twice as likely to pay ransoms compared to
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