India faces the second highest number of cyber attacks each year, hitting a whopping 120 crore attempts in 2018. Defending against all of those attacks isn't cheap, neither is the payout for insurance companies when they occur. And that price just went up.
According to the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), the average cost of data breaches rose by 8 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year, going all the way up to almost Rs 12 crore. The cost for whom you ask? Well the cost for insurance companies covering cyber attacks and, based on buyers of said insurance, you as well.
For instance, the report cites the attack on the Pune-based Cosmos Bank last year, which cost Rs 94 crore. Financial institutions are some of the most valuable targets for hackers, and therefore have to spend more on cybersecurity and the related insurance. Banks and IT companies, the report indicates, spend the most on cyber insurance, the premiums for which vary between Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 80 crore a year.
But these banks obviously aren't eating the costs themselves. That means, as cyber insurance gets more expensive, the costs will trickle down to your loans, interests rates, and even the insurance you buy.
Other buyers of such policies include pharmaceutical companies, retail companies and the hospitality industry. So that means higher prices for you all around too.
It's not just the threat of a hack either, most companies are forced to buy cyber insurance thanks to changing global policies. "Prominent data breach events in the US (the most attacked country) and the Western world, and recently enacted laws such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are driving the uptake of cyber insurance by Indian firms with global exposure," said Anup Dhingra, president of risk management company Marsh India.
That plus the increasing switch over to cloud and mobile operations means greater risks. So be prepared for everything from your medicines to your banking to get pricey all around.