Hiscox Endorsement Covers Business Loss by Cyber Deception, Phishing

International specialist insurer Hiscox is now offering a Cyber Deception endorsement as part of its crime insurance that is aimed at protecting businesses against malicious efforts by criminals to trick employees into transferring company funds.

Cyber deception is a growing threat to small and mid-sized companies, with successful attacks up 144 percent in the past four years, according to the Ponemon Institute 2014 Cyber Crime Study. Hiscox’s new endorsement protects against losses from cyber deception as part of its executive risks suite of insurance coverages.

Cyber deception occurs when criminals intentionally mislead company representatives by disguising themselves as a trusted vendor, client or even an employee. The communications appear legitimate and prompt employees to provide financial details or transfer funds out of the company.

Hiscox offers protection for cyber deception including phishing, spear phishing, pretexting, social engineering and confidence tricks through email, phone or other electronic means. Limits of up to $250,000 are available in conjunction with crime coverage provided either standalone or as part of an executive risk packaged policy.

Criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their cyber detection. According to Hiscox, cyber deception differs from hacking, there are no technology solutions to effectively prevent it and every organization is vulnerable.

In the U.S., Hiscox offers executive risks coverage alongside professional liability and other specialty insurance products. It has offices in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and White Plains, N.Y.

Topics Cyber Profit Loss