FICO Survey: 8 in 10 Indian Firms Have Cybersecurity Insurance — But Only Half Say It Is Full Coverage

MUMBAI— November 1, 2018

Highlights:

• Only 18 percent of Indian executives surveyed say their firm has no cybersecurity insurance.
• Only half (48 percent) of Indian firms said their cybersecurity insurance covers all risks.
• 44 percent of Indian firms said their insurer based their premiums on an accurate analysis of their risk profile.
• Telco firms lead other industries, with 60 percent reporting comprehensive coverage.
• Ovum conducted telephone surveys for FICO of security executives at 500 companies in India and 10 other countries.

The second annual cybersecurity survey from research and consultancy firm Ovum, for Silicon Valley analytics firm FICO, found that the number of Indian firms with cybersecurity insurance was 82 percent. This places India second, behind only the UK across the 11 countries surveyed. However, the number of firms reporting comprehensive coverage sits at about half (48 percent) showing there is still a level of risk taken by business in India. More information: https://www.fico.com/en/latest-thinking/ebook/india-views-from-the-c-suite-survey-2018

“It’s is very encouraging to see the high uptake of cybersecurity insurance across India,” said Vishal Goyal, country manager for India at FICO. “India has a well-developed IT sector and is on the front-foot with this issue. The data breaches in India in the past 12 months have continued to have an impact on local businesses, so there is recognition that insurance plays an important role in risk mitigation and is an important consideration to minimizing disruption.”

Last year, a study by the Ponemon Institute investigated the cost of data breaches to Indian companies and discovered that in 2017 the average total cost increased 12.3 percent, the size of breaches increased 6 percent and the loss of existing customers increased by 4.3 percent.

When FICO’s respondents were asked if they felt their insurance premiums were based on an assessment that accurately reflected their risk profile, 44 percent of firms said yes. Only 17 percent said firms said premiums were based on an inaccurate analysis, 32 percent said they were based on industry averages and 7 percent on unknown factors.

Indian telecommunications firms were the most likely to have cybersecurity insurance — 80 percent had insurance while 60 percent reported it as comprehensive to their level of risk. This compares well to financial services, where 40 percent of firms have comprehensive coverage.

“Indian companies are clearly leading the way when it comes to the take-up of cyber-insurance, with almost half having a comprehensive policy and a further one-third with at least some cover,” said Maxine Holt, research director at Ovum. “Around two-thirds of surveyed organizations in India either use software to give a breach likelihood score, or use an external agency to carry out risk assessments.

Ovum conducted the survey for FICO through telephone interviews with 500 senior executives, mostly from the IT function, in businesses from the UK, the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, India, Finland, Norway, Sweden and South Africa. Respondents represented firms in financial services, telecommunications, retail and ecommerce, and power and utilities.

In July, FICO announced that it is offering free subscriptions to the Portrait portal of the FICO® Security Risk Suite, which gives businesses access to their FICO® Cyber Risk Score. The score, a machine learning-based cybersecurity rating service, can show organizations how business partners and cyber insurance underwriters see their network security, and can help them benchmark their performance. More information is at http://cyberscore.fico.com.

About FICO
FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956 and based in Silicon Valley, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 185 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time. Learn more at https://www.fico.com

FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

About Ovum
Ovum is a market-leading research and consulting firm focused on helping digital service providers and their vendor partners thrive in the connected digital economy. Through its 150 analysts worldwide, it offers expert analysis and strategic insight across the IT, telecoms, and media industries. Founded in 1985, Ovum has one of the most experienced analyst teams in the industry and is a respected source of guidance for technology business leaders, CIOs, vendors, service providers, and regulators looking for comprehensive, accurate, and insightful market data, research, and consulting. With 23 offices across six continents, Ovum offers a truly global perspective on technology and media markets and provides thousands of clients with insight including workflow tools, forecasts, surveys, market assessments, technology audits, and opinion.

Ovum is part of the Business Intelligence Division of Informa plc, a leading business intelligence, academic publishing, knowledge and events group listed on the London Stock Exchange. https://ovum.informa.com/