Texas Lawbook: ‘WannaCry’ Attack Prompts Focus on Cyber Insurance

By Amy Stewart Law

The recent WannaCry malware attack “provides a timely reminder that hackers are endlessly inventive and have a lot of time on their hands – time they spend devising new ways to profit by creating chaos and exploiting the world’s interconnectedness,” Amy Elizabeth Stewart wrote in a recently published article on Texas Lawbook.

Ms. Stewart’s article offered advice to businesses looking to purchase a cyber insurance policy in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

As WannaCry illustrates, “cyber security risks reach well beyond data breaches – extending to information system failures, the loss or destruction of data, cyber ransom demands, even cyber theft,” writes Ms. Stewart, Managing Principal of Amy Stewart Law.

Before purchasing a cyber policy, Ms. Stewart advises businesses take the following steps: 

• Understand the risks insured by cyber policies
• Prepare to negotiate
• Beware of exclusions
• Negotiate for specific vendors on the front-end
• Negotiate broad coverage for ransom payments
• Inquire about system interruption coverage
• Comply with notice and consent requirements

No business is entirely immune to a cyberattack, and the potential consequences can be devastating,” she writes. “The WannaCry attack may not have unleashed a global cyber-tastrophe, but it was a clear shot across the bow to businesses. Prepare now for the next one. Because there will be a next one.”