Healthcare sector hardest hit by 2021 cyber attacks – Marsh

Data breaches and ransomware attacks were the main contributors to UK cyber claims in 2021, according to Marsh McLennan’s latest report.

The Cyber Trends Report 2021 revealed that data breaches and ransomware accounted for 51% of cyber incidents for the broker’s London clients.

However, claims from data breach attacks saw a slight decline in 2021 to 83% – down from 95% the previous year.

The healthcare industry was the hardest hit by cyber attacks in 2021, accounting for 23% of the total claims. Communications, media and technology (CMT) came in second at 20%, while professional services followed at 16%

Between 2015 and 2021, the healthcare industry, CMT companies and financial institutions represented the majority of cyber losses, accounting for 58% of claims.

Aviation was the lowest at 1%, followed by the public sector and power utilities at 2% each.

BI losses

Ransomware incidents increased again in 2021.

While the most affected industries have remained consistent, the manufacturing segment saw an increasing number of ransomware incidents in 2021. This was likely due to the industry becoming more digital, said Marsh.

Ransomware is leading to more extensive business interruption (BI) losses, possibly contributing to an upward trend in claims by manufacturing companies.

In addition to this, Marsh pointed out that claims frequency decreased last year, which it attributed to the market conditions flattening – Q4 2021 saw 65 claims, compared with 77 in the same quarter in 2020. 

The broker predicted that its figures for claims in Q3 and Q4 2021 would increase from these figures however, due to a three to six month lag in claims notifications.

Rates continue to rise

Meanwhile the cost of cyber insurance has continued to rise. The rate increase has been driven by a rise in ransomware claims, said the report. 

The cyber insurance market saw triple digit pricing increases in the fourth quarter of 2021. This was driven primarily by the increase in the frequency and severity of ransomware claims.

Retention levels followed a similar pattern, with 59% of clients witnessing an increase during the fourth quarter of last year.

Both limited capacity and rising prices saw customers reducing the level of cover purchased across all industries in 2021.

Meanwhile, insurers continued to focus on the cyber controls that organisations have in place and these are affecting both capacity and pricing for organisations.