{"id":23465,"date":"2023-07-23T23:35:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-23T22:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.policybee.co.uk\/blog\/?p=23465"},"modified":"2025-10-15T12:56:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:56:39","slug":"ransomware-insurance-a-simple-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.policybee.co.uk\/blog\/ransomware-insurance-a-simple-guide","title":{"rendered":"Ransomware insurance: a simple guide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"PC<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

All businesses have something hackers want: data. Especially the confidential and personally-identifiable kind. Ransomware attacks are just one of the ways<\/a> they can get their dirty mitts on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dealing with one can leave you feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place, and likely panicked about what to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is exactly<\/em> where cybercriminals want you. It\u2019s when you\u2019re most likely to cave into their demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stick with us, though. Because here\u2019s where ransomware insurance can really help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and definitely don\u2019t<\/em> try to pay any ransoms yourself. There\u2019s no guarantee your hard drive won\u2019t be wiped and your data stolen anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s ransomware?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ransomware comes in various guises: crypto, locker, wiper, etc. All allow cybercriminals to hack into your systems and wreak havoc with your data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where ransomware differs from other malware is it doesn\u2019t just steal your data from under your nose. It locks it down<\/em> by encrypting your files and blocking your network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A ransom note pops up on your screen demanding payment – usually in Bitcoin – or risk seeing your data leaked or stolen – or both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now your personal info\u2019s in the hands of unscrupulous cybercriminals to do with as they like. Leaving you vulnerable to further breaches, attacks, fraud and identity theft attempts, and who knows what else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, a whole heap of extra headaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tick tock, tick tock<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With your systems in shut down and business ground to a halt, you\u2019re fast losing money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now there are other scenarios to worry about, too. Like ICO fines<\/a>, or your customers and clients suing you for personal data loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time\u2019s ticking, with no option but to pay the ransom. Or so cybercriminals want <\/em>you to think. Realistically, meeting their demands won\u2019t help if your data\u2019s stolen anyway. Nor will it guarantee you won\u2019t get attacked again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to mention that paying online ransoms helps fuel a fast-growing and increasingly global crime economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The true cost of <\/strong>ransomware<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dark networks, the rise of cryptocurrency, and other ground-breaking technologies have made ransomware what it is today: a fast-evolving software product that\u2019s traded freely and anonymously on the dark web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s worth megabucks to the shadowy individuals and crime gangs who prop it up. And no wonder. Found in the right \u2013 or rather, the wrong \u2013 hands, ransomware attacks can disrupt supply chains and shut down the data and systems of businesses, hospitals, schools, and even local governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scale of the problem is so huge the US government made paying cyber-attack ransoms illegal in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while the UK hasn\u2019t joined them yet, the official advice from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)<\/a> is to avoid paying them at all costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the sad reality is many UK organisations would rather cough up the cash<\/a> than risk going insolvent. Making them rich pickings for cybercriminals hellbent on extorting their victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise of RaaS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

2016 saw a huge surge in ransomware attacks (688 new threats per minute, according to McAfee Labs<\/a>) following the emergence of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to RaaS, cybercriminals could ditch automated campaigns in favour of targeted attacks, while ransomware developers received a tidy sum per successful breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This subscription-based business model revolutionised the speed and scale at which ransomware software could be launched, allowing cybercriminals to carry out bigger, bolder attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n