Cyber
The cyber insurance market remains favourable for our clients, with additional capacity entering the space over the past 12 months which in turn is supporting a stable market environment. The Lockton Cyber & Technology team has noted an average 12% year-over-year premium decrease across its portfolio in the past quarter.
The cyber threat landscape has seen a significant rise in activity from threat actors and cybercriminals within the energy and power sector this quarter. While many of these actors are financially driven, there has also been a noticeable uptick in hacktivism (the act of hacking, or breaking into a computer system, for politically or socially motivated purposes). An analysis of recent incidents has highlighted the United States, Israel, and India as the most vulnerable countries.
Ransomware payments to criminal gangs dropped unexpectedly by more than a third to $812 million (£650 million) in 2024
Ransomware continues to account for roughly 40% of attacks this quarter
The energy sector remains a prime target for cybercriminals, with the memory of the May 2021 Colonial Pipeline attack still fresh for cyber risk management professionals. Although ransomware payments to criminal gangs dropped unexpectedly by more than a third, falling to $812 million (£650 million) in 2024, ransomware continues to account for roughly 40% of attacks this quarter (Source: Despite Catastrophic Hacks, Ransomware Payments Dropped Dramatically Last Year | WIRED).
Despite the ongoing threats, moving forward, we expect Energy & Power to remain core appetite for cyber insurers, with heavy competition on rates.
In response to the growing threat, the UK has proposed a ban on ransomware payments for critical infrastructure (CNI) organizations. This move has sparked global attention, with other countries now considering whether to extend such a ban to their own critical supply chains and make ransomware attack reporting mandatory.
Clients should continue to invest in their security posture, ideally focusing on ransomware resilience through implementing robust back-up solutions, regularly updating software and network entry points, and segmenting internal critical and non-critical IT systems. Our specialist brokers can provide advice on these initiatives.
The ongoing shift to renewable energy, complex supply chains, and digital transformation—along with the integration of IT/OT systems—provides operational benefits but also increases the cyber risk surface that organizations must manage.
The Lockton Cyber team are best positioned to help our clients to fully understand their operational risks with our established technology-driven cyber risk services. Our threat-led approach to quantifying cyber risk is underpinned by analytics, enabling our clients to make informed decisions about their security.