According to data released in Beazley’s new Cyber Services Snapshot report, fraudulent instruction as a form of cyber attack is on the rise, despite an overall decline in incidents.
The data from the report suggests that professional service firms experienced more fraudulent instruction and almost as many business email compromise incidents so far in 2022 as in the whole of 2021.
In contrast, the report found that system infiltration overall is down in 2022, with better risk selection, improved security practices, and threat actor attention being focused elsewhere all factoring in.
Beazley writes, “With three quarters’ worth of data now available for 2022, we can see a decline in system infiltration as a cause of loss from 2021 to 2022 for all industries except healthcare.
“Though there are many factors that drive the ebb and flow of incidents, we’d like to think that greater recognition and efforts towards cybersecurity by policyholders have played a role in this shift – and we encourage continued diligence in this area.”
Threat actors are also increasingly using anti-forensics techniques to obscure their activities, which the report notes is an important reminder that a defence-in-depth approach is more essential than ever for organisations to prevent malicious activity after an intrusion and to remain resilient.
Bala Larson, Beazley’s Head of Client Experience, commented, “The past two years of pandemic-driven remote work have led to decreased inter-departmental communication and less oversight overall, making the likelihood that an organisation has an incomplete asset inventory greater than ever.
“Good asset management is good governance, and as such, it needs to be built into business decision-making. Organisations that fail to do so inherently expose themselves to cyber breaches that result in higher costs and more liability.”
In addition, a recent study from Zurich North America and Advisen indicated that 86% of respondents now have cyber insurance, up 3% from 2021 and the highest percentage in the history of the survey, though increasing premiums and restrictions for cyber coverage have created frustration for some business leaders.
