Report: 76% of Companies Improved on Cyber Defenses

Emma Okonji

Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, has released its findings from its recent survey, titled: “Cyber Insurance and Cyber Defenses 2024: Lessons from IT and Cybersecurity Leaders.”

According to the report, 97 per cent of those with a cyber policy invested in improving their defenses to help with insurance, with 76 per cent saying it enabled them to qualify for coverage, 67 per cent to get better pricing and 30 per cent to secure improved policy terms.

The survey also revealed that recovery costs from cyberattacks are outpacing insurance coverage. Only one per cent of those that made a claim said that their carrier funded 100 per cent of the costs incurred while remediating the incident.

The most common reason for the policy not paying for the costs in full was because the total bill exceeded the policy limit.

According to The State of Ransomware 2024 survey, recovery costs following a ransomware incident increased by 50 per cent over the last year, reaching $2.73 million on average.

Analysing the report, Director, Global Field CTO, Chester Wisniewski, said:  “The Sophos Active Adversary report has repeatedly shown that many of the cyber incidents companies face are the result of a failure to implement basic cybersecurity best practices, such as patching in a timely manner. In our most recent report, for example, compromised credentials were the number one root cause of attacks, yet 43 per cent of companies didn’t have multi-factor authentication enabled.”

Wisniewski further said: “The fact that 76 per cent of companies invested in cyber defenses to qualify for cyber insurance shows that insurance is forcing organizations to implement some of these essential security measures. It’s making a difference, and it’s having a broader, more positive impact on companies overall. However, while cyber insurance is beneficial for companies, it is just one part of an effective risk mitigation strategy. Companies still need to work on hardening their defenses. A cyberattack can have profound impacts for a company from both an operational and a reputational standpoint, and having cyber insurance doesn’t change that.”