Ransomware – “it isn’t going away soon”

Ransomware – “it isn’t going away soon” | Insurance Business Canada

Cyber

Ransomware – “it isn’t going away soon”

Cyber experts share their insights on the growing frequency of incidents

Ransomware remains a top concern for Canadian businesses, with the frequency of attacks on the rise.

Considering the growing threat of such attacks, industry experts Laura Martin of CFC, Michelle Lawson of WTW, and Chris Pitcher of Arch Insurance highlighted the ongoing challenges and evolving tactics employed by cybercriminals during a roundtable on the cyber insurance market with Insurance Business.

“Unfortunately, it isn’t going away any anytime soon,” said Martin, who serves as cyber development manager at CFC. “It is highly profitable … and the financial award when it comes to ransomware far outweighs the risk and the likelihood of getting caught.”

While the severity of ransomware claims is trending lower, the frequency of attacks has only gone up, according to Lawson, cyber practice leader at WTW.

Lawson cited figures from her firm, which indicated that they received the same volume of cyber notifications in the first six months of 2023 as they did throughout 2022.

Along with this rise in frequency, Pitcher, assistant vice president and head of cyber at Arch Canada, pointed out higher ransom demands.

In 2023, more companies are choosing not to pay ransoms “well over 50 percent of the time,” Pitcher said. However, plenty of businesses still “won’t think twice” about paying up due to concerns over critical data theft, reputational risk, and downtime costs.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase when it comes to data exploitation,” Martin added. “This is one of the pressure tactics that bad actors are using, and it does mean that victims are more likely to go ahead and pay that extortion demand with the threat of sensitive information being leaked.”