Now, you can get insurance to cover for cyber crimes

The cover is also not device-specific, and includes transactions made on personal or work devices.
Now, you can get insurance to cover for cyber crimes
Now, you can get insurance to cover for cyber crimes
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India reportedly sees a cybercrime reported every ten minutes, which it makes it extremely important for individuals to protect themselves from online attacks.

Individuals in India can now buy insurance to protect themselves from cybercrimes, such as online fraud leading to loss of funds, phishing, identity theft and malware attack, The Times of India reported.

While a similar insurance cover to protect against cybercrimes was available for business entities, this is said to be the first time that such an over-the-counter cover is being made available to individuals.

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance (BAGI) has come up with the Cyber Safe policy in an attempt to safeguard those who use the internet and e-commerce.

"This cover is the first of its kind, designed keeping in mind the changing risk profile of the consumer. A couple of decades ago, the biggest risk was having your pocket picked. In this day and age covers against pickpockets do not help when the bigger risk is of cybercrime," Tapan Singhel, MD & CEO of BAGI, told TOI.

He also went on to add that in today's world, more and more people are going the digital way which is resulting in an increase in the amount of personal data being generated, transmitted and stored on various digital devices.

"The critical nature of this data and the complexity of the systems that support its transmission and use have created a gamut of cyber risks," he stated.

People can buy a policy cover ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore. The premium, however, has not been disclosed. The cover is also not device-specific, and includes transactions made on personal or work devices. Those buying the cover will be expected not to make transactions through cyber cafes or other suspected devices, the TOI report states.

The cover will also include legal costs in certain scenarios, such as if the policy holder's credentials are hacked into and controversial statements are made on social media from their accounts.

Pankaj Maru, in a piece for The Economic Times, writes about how cybercrimes are getting more sophisticated, and hence there is an increased need for such insurances, especially for businesses.

"In fact," he writes, "technology advancement, sophistication and dynamic nature of cyber attacks and crimes have turned cyber insurance into a challenging and complex form of insurance product for the insurance companies to offer in the markets."

"For them, it's a challenge to build a suitable insurance product that can cover and underwrite all the evolving threats, risks and liabilities including third-party data protection," he notes.

Earlier this year, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said that the insurance sector was growing faster than the Indian economy.

IRDAI Chairman TS Vijayan pointed out that this growth was taking place amidst major disruption in the business environment brought about by technology, and the industry needed to keep up with these changes to sustain its growth.

Highlighting the central government's initiatives like JAM (Jan-Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile), Digital India and Start-up India helped the industry reached 12 crore customers in one year, Vijayan said.

With IANS inputs

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