It is a text that is published in a context that is at least favorable. Fifteen days after the noisy cyberattack suffered by the Southern Ile-de-France Hospital Center in Corbeil-Essonnes, Bercy is preparing to present a report on the development of cyberinsurance this Wednesday. In it, the Ministry of the Economy is in favor of compensation for cyber ransoms by insurers, according to the newspaper Les Echos, which was able to consult it upstream. The creation of a cyber threat observatory is also on the table.
The report is also part of a fairly advanced legislative process since this provision is included in the Ministry of the Interior’s orientation and programming bill, also presented this Wednesday to the Council of Ministers. Initially presented last March, the text already contemplated this principle of compensation.
Average ransoms of 6400 euros
It intervened following a similar position taken by the High Legal Committee of the Paris financial center which had opposed the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) rather in favor of a ban or, where appropriate, a “strict framework” of this type of guarantee. While a parliamentary report also came out in favor of a ban at the end of 2021, the new legislative text will go through parliament next month, which could not be examined in the spring.
If this question gives rise to so many debates and antagonistic positions, it is because the payment of ransoms is not prohibited in France and the payment of ransoms contributes to the financing of this form of crime. “The reimbursement of a ransom by the insurer is a priori lawful and comparable to insurance that covers the risk of theft, whose generating event is a break-in,” the report underlines. However, some bailouts can reach several million euros, although the average amount requested is around 6,400 euros in 2021 with an annual increase of 50% in the last five years.
Growth potential of cyber insurance policies
The government’s acceleration on this issue is justified by an increase in cybercrime since the pandemic and by an increased risk of attacks outside French borders. This risk stems from the absence of a clear legal framework, which can make French companies abroad or those requesting foreign aid vulnerable.
This clarification from the authorities could favor the growth of the share of cyber insurance in the professional damage insurance market, which was close to 4% in 2021 with nearly 220 million euros in premiums. Only a few players offer large companies contracts with this guarantee with secondments on both sides in recent months. On the one hand, some companies consider the guarantees too expensive or too limited to sign these contracts, while some insurers such as AXA or Generali have simply renounced offering them so as not to be accused of maintaining a criminal circuit.
Source: BFM TV
