The rising number of claims in cyber insurance, with some severe losses reported, are continuing to put upward pressure on cyber rates, according to Axa XL.

The price increases are most pronounced for distressed accounts and cyber placements combined with technology professional indemnity.

“We are not seeing huge rates increase and it’s certainly not across the board,” Axa XL’s London-based Head of Cyber James Tuplin told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

He says not all businesses view cyber threat as a business risk – a position that needs to change quickly if they are to have an effective post-recovery plan in the event of a digital attack.

“It’s not an IT issue,” he said. “This is a business risk issue. It is no different to any business risk you face.

“A property can burn down and they will know the exact calculation of how much to rebuild the building and how much income they lose while that income is unavailable.

“If you get ransomware in that building, everything stops. You cannot sell your products or services. You have to rebuild everything you have in your IT, which is a similar cost quite often.

“So it’s a business risk.”

See ANALYSIS.