Cyber insurance claims are on the rise and ransomware attacks top the charts according to a recent report from the American International Group (AIG).
The 2017 Cyber Insurance Claim Statistics published by AIG, a global insurance organization, found that ransomware attacks make up the largest percentage of cyberattacks. Ransomware claims filled more than a quarter of AIG’s cyber insurance claims last year; an increase of 16 percent from past years. Altogether, AIG received more cyber insurance claims in the last year than in the past four years combined.
No company is safe from these attacks. AIG’s 2017 claims demonstrated that ransomware attacks are largely random, impacting health care providers of all sizes. Because of how ransomware attacks are performed, they cause the greatest concern out of any type of cyberattack for health care IT professionals.
Ransomware attacks leave many health care organizations confused about what to do. Even if the ransom is paid, there is no guarantee that the data will be returned: close to 20 percent of ransomware victims paid the ransom and did not get their data back according to a survey done by the CyberEdge Group. This group also found that the “majority didn’t pay the ransom but recovered their data, presumably through data backups, while 19 percent paid the ransom and recovered their data, and 8 percent did not pay the ransom and lost their data.”
The only way to truly keep your data safe is to have back-ups. The Vice President of Financial Lines Major Loss Claims for EMEA at AIG, José Martinez, stated in the report by Health IT Security: “Generally speaking, when companies have back-ups, in pretty much all the cases that I’ve seen they are not interested in paying the ransom.” He also said that the companies with insufficient back-ups were also more likely to suffer financially.
With ransomware attacks on the rise and presenting even more of a challenge in the future, it would be valuable to look into your cyber security and back up all important data.
To learn more about how to back up your data to keep both your clients and company safe, join HIPAAgps today.
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