Cyber insurance rates to increase 20-50% this year: Aon

Policyholders can expect 20% to 50% rate increases for cyber coverage throughout 2021 as trends that began last year continue at an accelerated pace, Aon PLC said in a report issued Wednesday.

These trends include increased claim frequency and severity, much of it driven by ransomware events, according to the report.

“To maintain a commitment to long-term stable cyber capacity, insurers are reviewing areas in their portfolio where underwriting action is needed, and reevaluating capacity deployment, specifically as it relates to ransomware losses,” the report said.

The report said trends to watch include errors and omissions exposures stemming from many organizations’ accelerated digital transformation initiatives; potential vulnerabilities from the use of Remote Desktop Protocol software; breach regulations, as the regulatory environment continues to grow in complexity; cyber extortion, with ransomware attacks evolving to include the threat of exposure of sensitive data on the public internet in addition to the encryption of sensitive data; and vendor risks, because of organization’s reliance on third-party technology and back-end applications.

The report said ransomware incidents increased 486% between 2018’s first quarter and the fourth quarter of 2020, while data breach and privacy events declined last year.