Baltimore belatedly buys cyberinsurance

In what could be the poster child case for closing the barn door
after the horse has left, the Baltimore City Council has approved the purchase
of cyber insurance, six months after the municipality suffered a damaging
ransomware attack.

The Baltimore Sun reported
the city conducted a bidding process and selected two plans. “The first plan,
for $10 million in liability coverage from Chubb Insurance, will cost $500,103
in premium. The second, for $10 million in excess coverage, will be provided by
AXA XL Insurance for $335,000,” the Sun wrote.

Each plan has a $1 million deductible.

The May
attack saw Robbinhood ransomware effectively taking the city offline, except
for emergency services, with the attackers demanding a $76,000 ransom, which
the city refused to pay. This began a series of problems for Baltimore that
ranged from being taunted
by its attackers to having to deal with the financial
fallout estimated at $18 million.