Ransomware and other cyber attacks have become more common place not only for businesses, but for the general end user. For this reason, insurance companies have put together coverage packages to insure everyday people for their costly cyber insurance vulnerabilities.
Having your computer be a victim of a ransomware or other cyber attack is not only a hinderance on your life, but it could possibly cost you thousands of dollars to retrieve your data and repair your systems. In some cases you may lose all of your data or you might even have your identity stolen.
As with every type of insurance, there are different packages available from different insurance providers. It is important to know exactly what you are buying when you are purchasing your cyber insurance policy. Simply put, the policies are not all created equally.
If you have a stand alone Personal Cyber Insurance policy, these are the coverages that are commonly found:
Everyone assumes that cyber events only happens to the big companies. This is simply no longer true. The cyber attackers will gladly take money from anyone that their attacks have extorted. For this reason the attackers are spreading their software every chance they have and they are even selling their ransomware software to non-technical people for a cut of the ransom money.
If you have nothing of value to the attackers, it will not matter. They will simply look for vulnerable systems that have not been updated or protected. They will also send out mass emails to every email address they can find. If you accidently click on the wrong link, you could also become a victom of a cyber attack.
Cyber Attack
An individual opened an electronic file attached to an email that looked like it was from UPS. It unleashed a nasty virus, which corrupted data and reconfigured the existing computer setup. Restoration involved reformatting the hard disk, erasing everything on it, and reinstalling the operating system and all software applications.
Cyber Extortion / Ransomware
A ransom note popped up on the homeowner’s computer screen soon after she discovered that all of her files had been locked. “Your files are encrypted,” it announced. “To get the key to decrypt files, pay $1,000 USD.” If payment was not received within a week, the price would increase to $2,000. The threat included destruction of her decryption key and any chance of accessing the thousands of files on her PC. The homeowner paid the $1,000 extortion demand and had to pay an information technology firm to investigate the ransom and ensure that there were no viruses left behind on her computer.
Online Fraud
One morning a homeowner received an email from his grandson Tom, who was in trouble. Tom had been in a car accident the night before, was facing possible criminal charges and needed money for a lawyer. Within 20 minutes another mail was received. This one was from a man who identified himself as Tom’s attorney, who provided a rundown of the situation.
Apparently, the driver in the other car, a foreign diplomat from Trinidad was injured. The diplomat had agreed to accept $1,950 to cover costs and was ready to sign a release just as soon as the funds were wired. The homeowner called Tom yet got no answer. Fearing for his grandson, he paid cash for the MoneyGram, and sent it off. The next morning another email arrived from the lawyer looking for more money. The homeowner called his grandson again, only to find out Tom had never been in an accident.
