New Claims Report sees sharp increase in funds transfer fraud attacks

Funds transfer fraud (FTF), one of the easiest ways for attackers to monetize cyber crime against your organization, increased in frequency and severity over the last year. The associated losses surged threefold from H1 2020 to H1 2021. While ransomware requires sophisticated attack techniques and specialized malware, it is possible to execute an FTF attack without triggering any security alerts. Our H1 2021 Cyber Insurance Claims Report analyzed claims data through June 2021 from customers in the United States and Canada and found that funds transfer fraud is now the second most common incident type, increasing by 28%. The average loss before clawing back funds also surged in H1 2021 to a painful $326,264.

Ransomware and funds transfer fraud account for 50% of all known losses.

Our visibility into cyber incidents comes from three primary sources: our policyholders reporting incidents and claims, data the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) shares with us, and finally, from the tens of thousands of insurance applications we receive each year. This is our second year compiling data to assess trends in cyber insurance.