As individuals become more conscious of their personal cyber risks, many people are actively taking steps to mitigate this liability. However, certain poor cyber protection practices are still far too common.

In an article published by Insurance Business Magazine regarding a survey from Chubb, one of the largest insurance companies, 92% of people that were surveyed were worried about a personal cyber breach. And this number has increased by about 20% from prior years. According to the article, one of the biggest takeaways from this survey is that it validated their assumption that people are aware of their personal cyber risks. 

During the height of the pandemic, many individuals were using remote technologies that helped them become aware of these potential risks that they weren’t aware of previously. According to the article, 80% of people use multi-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to their accounts. In addition, 70% of people surveyed reported they had voluntarily updated their passwords in the last 12 months without being prompted. Despite these positive numbers, there are still many poor practices that are far too common. 

According to the article, about half of the people surveyed still use their pet’s name or another easily identifiable piece of information as their password. This practice was particularly startling in high-net-worth individuals, around 85% of high-net-worth individuals surveyed use a password with personal information that could be found online. Additionally, across all subjects, some other poor practices reported were using public Wi-Fi for personal financial transactions or checking bank accounts. This is a very dangerous practice because sometimes those public Wi-Fi nodes are not fully protected and bad actors can get inside through a back door. Similarly, the Wi-Fi network could be a fake network. If you’re at a coffee shop, the “network” could be another computer’s hot spot set up to pose as a public network, but actually intends to intercept your information. 

Looking at the insurance side of the survey, according to the article, 39% of people who responded said they had a personal cyber insurance policy, more common among high-net-worth individuals. This indicates that the higher the net worth, the more likely they are to have a personal cyber liability insurance policy. 

This article and the survey by Chubb provide a great snapshot of what is happening with awareness and action on cyber defense and cyber liability insurance on the personal lines side of the insurance market.