CyberPolicy ® shared recent cyber insurance trend findings. And by its national cyber insurance sales data, CyberPolicy discovered that California leads the nation in SMB cyber insurance adoption. The highest annual premium in the state totaled more than $16,596, while the lowest annual premium was just $34.
SMBs face substantial cyber risk, which is mainly as a result of their limited resources and lack of employee training. Which is also worse, their threat level is going up terribly, with 67% of SMBs experiencing a cyber attack and 58% experiencing a data breach in just the past year, according to the Ponemon Institute.
In times past, many SMBs assumed that attackers target only large enterprises, today the demographic is waking up to the reality of their threat level. In conjunction with following through to cyber security best practices and implementing various cyber protection tools, SMBs are prioritizing cyber insurance as a key defense tactic.
And according to CyberPolicy’s research, California-based software development companies are at the forefront of the pack in prioritizing cyber insurance as an integral part of their cyber defense strategies. California-based SMBs not in the technology sector are also actively purchasing cyber insurance, including the following industries (in order of most sales):
- Financial Services
- Healthcare Business Management
Additionally, CyberPolicy found that the largest SMB purchasing cyber insurance in California has 100 employees, while the smallest has just one employee. With cyber insurance increasingly becoming mandatory for SMBs that wish to conduct business with larger enterprises, it’s unsurprising that the majority of California SMBs initiated their search for cyber insurance due to a contract requirement. Testament to SMBs’ improved cybersecurity hygiene, the majority of California purchasers also indicated they back up their critical business systems, data and personally identifiable information at least once a week.
“Collective cyber insurance market growth is encouraging, especially given ever-rising threat levels and seemingly constant breaches,” said Keith Moore, founder and CEO of CyberPolicy.
“California’s cyber insurance adoption rates are particularly impressive, however, and the state’s dedication to proactive cyber defense is worth emulating. We’re committed to helping SMBs of all sizes, industries and locations acquire the cyber protection they need so they can focus on what’s most important: securely growing their business.”
Growing on these regional cyber insurance trends, CyberPolicy will be sharing additional data in the coming months that outlines key cybersecurity trends for SMBs nationwide.