Cowbell Reveals that 90% of SMEs Underestimate the Cost of a Cyber Attack

Cowbell Reveals that 90% of SMEs Underestimate the Cost of a Cyber Attack
Cyber insurance provider Cowbell has released its Cyber Round-Up: Q2 2023 report, revealing that 90% of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders underestimate the costs of a cyber incident.

Founded in 2019, Cowbell is a leading cyber insurance provider. The insurtech is based in the San Francisco Bay Area with employees across the US, Canada, India, and the UK.

The report, which explored insights from SME leaders across the US, also found that 91% of respondents with cyber insurance said that their insurance provider had helped them avoid potential incidents.

The survey was conducted in February 2023 and yielded results from 500 SME leaders across the US. An SME was defined as a business with under $1 billion in revenue. Cowbell found that 77% of SMEs with a cybersecurity strategy owned a cyber insurance policy and were nearly nine times more likely to feel highly prepared to respond to a cyber incident. This highlights the critical role of cyber insurance in a sound cyber risk management strategy.

Many cyber solutions are available to SMEs, says Cowbell

Isabelle Dumont, SVP of Marketing and Technology Partners at Cowbell, commented on the findings, saying: “The SME market is vast and dynamic. With 33 million US organisations having revenue under $1 billion, this large segment is critically important to the health of the US economy. As shown by this research, there is an opportunity to educate SMEs and insurance agents about the value of cyber insurance and accelerate adoption.”

The report also provided insights into which industries suffered the most cyberattacks in the past 12 months. The top victims were computer hardware or software (68%), followed by utilities/energy/water/telecom (61%) and financial services or insurance (60%). This underscores the importance of prioritizing defending and protecting critical infrastructure, as highlighted in the recently released National Cybersecurity Strategy.

SMEs are vulnerable targets for cyberattacks, but they do not have to be. By defining a cyber risk management strategy, purchasing cyber insurance, and adopting cybersecurity best practices, SMEs can shore up their cyber defenses to prevent and mitigate threats. Cyber insurance, in particular, can help SMEs lessen the severity of, and even prevent, cyber incidents.

Cowbell is a pioneer of Adaptive Cyber Insurance and a leader in providing SMEs coverage adaptable to today’s and tomorrow’s threats and the advanced warning of cyber risk exposures. The company’s continuous underwriting platform, powered by Cowbell Factors, compresses the insurance process from submission to issue in less than five minutes. Cowbell is backed by 20 leading global (re)insurance partners and serves SMEs in 50 US states and the District of Columbia.

Join Cowbell in New York at ITI USA

To find out more about Cowbell’s latest strategies and innovations, join their experts at Insurtech Insights USA 2023 on June 7th and 8th, at the Javits Center in New York, where they will be taking part in a series of expert panels.

  • Trent Cooksley, Co-Founder and COO of Cowbell will be taking part in “The Technologies Creating a Dynamic Cyber Insurance Strategy
  • Alexis Vaughn, AVP of Agency Marketing, will be speaking in “Underwriting Uncovered: The Technologies Revolutionizing Commercial Insurance”

To find out more, click here

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