By SIA of NC | 🕒 4 min read | Published July 14th, 2025
The cyber insurance market is shifting—again. After years of dramatic pricing swings and evolving threats, today’s market is showing new signs of instability. One of the most urgent trends? A steep increase in cyber claims. For small business owners, understanding what’s driving these claims—and how to protect against them—has never been more critical.
Cyber insurance trends reveal that while premiums have stabilized for many industries, the threat landscape has not. Network intrusions are up by 72% over last year, and attackers are finding new ways to exploit both systems and human error. From social engineering schemes to card tumbling tactics, small businesses are now more vulnerable than ever before.
What’s Driving the Rise in Cyber Claims?
A major contributor to the recent spike is cyber fatigue. Employees are inundated with multifactor authentication prompts, phishing attempts, and alerts. Over time, this desensitization leads to risky behavior—such as approving logins they didn’t initiate. Threat actors count on this fatigue and use it to wear down users until access is granted.
Despite more businesses investing in security infrastructure since the 2020 remote work boom, attackers have also grown more sophisticated. Today’s most common claims include:
- Social Engineering – Also called fraudulent instruction or cyber deception, this involves tricking employees into transferring money or sensitive information based on spoofed emails.
- Network Intrusions – Hackers gain unauthorized access and exfiltrate data or take systems hostage.
- Cryptocurrency Theft – When business leaders are targeted, attackers may access personal wallets, like Coinbase, through breached corporate networks.
- Card Tumbling – This emerging threat involves running thousands of stolen credit cards through online payment portals, triggering costly processing fees for small businesses.
Why Ransom Payments Are Declining
Another major shift in the cyber insurance market involves a decrease in ransom payments. Companies are becoming more willing to rebuild systems rather than negotiate with criminals. This is partly due to evolving state laws and partly because threat actors are becoming less trustworthy—sometimes failing to deliver encryption keys even after payment. As a result, insurers are less likely to authorize ransom reimbursement.
Instead, the focus has shifted to funding system restoration and data recovery, creating a higher demand for IT support and coverage clarity during the claims process.
What This Means for Small Businesses
Small businesses are no longer flying under the radar. Threat actors specifically target startups, solo founders, and companies in growth mode because they often lack the time, tools, or team to vet every interaction.
For instance, new agency owners frequently receive fake emails disguised as official notices from the Secretary of State. These scams are convincing, timely, and costly. As small agencies grow, their cyber liability exposure grows with them—especially if they accept credit card payments, handle client data, or onboard new employees without thorough security training.
How to Stay Ahead of the Threats
Cyber insurance alone isn’t a silver bullet—but it is an essential part of any agency’s risk strategy. Small businesses should:
- Invest in employee education – Especially for new hires handling financial or client data.
- Verify payment requests – A quick phone call can prevent a five-figure mistake.
- Use multi-layer authentication – And train staff not to approve suspicious login attempts.
- Review cyber coverage regularly – Ensure you have protection for ransomware, deception, business interruption, and new threats like card tumbling.
Final Thoughts
Cyber insurance trends show us that the landscape is evolving—and fast. Small businesses must stay alert, educated, and adequately insured to avoid falling victim to new cyber threats. By understanding the risks and securing the right protection, your agency can avoid costly claims and build resilience in a digital-first world.
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