In 2013, retail giant Target fell victim to one of the most publicized cyber-attacks to date, losing a total of $252 million in the breach. Fortunately, Target had purchased cyber insurance, which helped the company to recover $90 million of that total and, though the policy did not cover all losses, it helped mitigate the blow. While cyber insurance has certainly emerged as a necessity in the business world, it is important to emphasize that the insurance is only to serve as a backup to cyber security defenses as a whole. Insurance is not a substitute for an adequate cyber defense, and cyber insurance policies continue to rise in part due to insurance purchasers treating it as a primary plan instead of a backup.
Though it is practically inevitable that a breach will happen at some point, that does not mean that setting up a defense and taking proper measures is futile. On the contrary, with attacks happening more frequently than ever, it has become increasingly vital to set up and maintain a system to prevent outside cyber-attacks.