Beazley: Ransomware Claims More Than Doubled In The Last Year

Ransomware attacks on a prominent insurer’s client base rose by more than 100% last year, driven by new attacks on healthcare, professional services and financial institutions, according to new figures released Monday.

Beazley Breach Response services, a unit of the London-based insurance firm, said Monday that its clients reported 775 ransomware attacks in 2019, a 131% increase over the previous year.

The spike was motivated by a combination of factors, including the increased accessibility of pernicious strains of malicious software, higher demands and the simple inability of enterprises to fend off phishing emails or protect remote desktop protocol technology.

The numbers are the latest addition to a pervasive ransomware problem that has been difficult to quantify.

Victims often do not report attacks to law enforcement, while extortion demands range from thousands to millions of dollars. Meanwhile insurers like Beazley are asked to cover ransomware claims, and typically keep their risk modeling and coverage decisions on such matters private.