Wake-Up Call on Ransomware

The ransomware attack that shut down the 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S., contains two important seeds of opportunity.

First, the federal government looks like it may get much more involved in preventing or at least prosecuting cyber attacks, specifically for important infrastructure like pipelines and electric grids, but perhaps more broadly, too.

Second, the attack raises the profile of the ransomware problem to the point that insurance clients may no longer be able to ignore it — which they mostly have even as ransomware activity quintupled globally between the first quarter of 2018 and the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Aon. This higher profile will create the opportunity for insurers to work with clients to finally step up their defenses... continue reading >