High-profile ransomware attacks last year have increased Indian firms’ demand for cyber insurance by 200%, according to one brokerage.
This was revealed by Secure-Now, an insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that specialises in working with e-commerce and mobile wallet companies.
“Three or four years ago, we would have to pitch to clients on why they should secure their company,” Abhishek Bondia, founder of Secure-Now, told the Times of India. “Now, we have inbound interest from companies, especially e-commerce and consumer facing companies that keep third-party data.”
Meanwhile, Tapan Singhel, managing director and CEO of Bajaj Allianz said that the insurer has seen a huge bump in cyber insurance purchases, compared to two years ago, when there was barely any demand.
As a result, traditional insurers such as Bajaj Allianz and ICICI Lombard that used to consider cyber insurance as a minor product, are now scaling up their offerings, with commercial policies reaching up to US$50 million in sum insured.
However, despite the increased demand among businesses, cyber security is still mostly unheard of for the general Indian public. Most of the demand comes from online retail and IT service firms, which deal in crucial third-party user data. Other industries have yet to embrace cyber, leaving a large segment unprotected.
