A single compromised API key can spin up hundreds of GPU instances in minutes, mining cryptocurrency on your cloud account while you sleep. The bill arrives weeks later: $40,000, $80,000, sometimes six figures. Your cloud provider will not absorb that cost. Your general liability policy will not either. This is the risk that cryptojacking insurance is designed to address, covering unauthorized cloud compute charges, the cost of detecting and removing crypto mining malware, abuse of container and Kubernetes environments, and reimbursement for inflated cloud bills that result from an attack you never authorized.
For small and mid-market companies running workloads on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, the exposure is real and growing. Cryptojacking surged by 659% globally in 2023, with over 1.06 billion recorded attempts in a single year. That trajectory has not slowed. Attackers have shifted from targeting individual endpoints to hijacking entire cloud tenancies, where compute scales automatically and billing follows. The financial damage is not theoretical: it shows up as a line item on your next invoice. Understanding how cyber insurance responds to this threat, and where standard policies fall short, is essential for any organization with cloud infrastructure.
Understanding Cryptojacking and the Hidden Costs of Cloud Abuse
Cryptojacking is the unauthorized use of someone else's computing resources to mine cryptocurrency. Unlike ransomware, which announces itself, cryptojacking operates silently. The attacker's goal is to remain undetected for as long as possible, consuming CPU and GPU cycles to generate coins while you pay the electricity and compute bill. The financial impact compounds daily, and many organizations do not discover the compromise until a billing anomaly triggers an internal review.
The hidden costs extend beyond the cloud invoice itself. Degraded application performance, incident response labor, forensic investigation fees, and the operational disruption of tearing down and rebuilding compromised environments all add to the total loss. For a 50-person SaaS company or a mid-size healthcare provider, an undetected cryptojacking incident can represent a material financial event.
How Crypto Mining Malware Infiltrates Cloud Infrastructure
Attackers typically gain initial access through exposed credentials, misconfigured storage buckets, or vulnerable web applications. Once inside, they deploy mining software, often XMRig or a variant, directly onto virtual machines or within container images. Stolen access keys from code repositories remain one of the most common entry points: developers inadvertently commit AWS or GCP credentials to public GitHub repositories, and automated scanners pick them up within minutes.
Supply chain compromises present another vector. Malicious packages published to npm, PyPI, or Docker Hub can embed mining payloads that activate once deployed into a production environment. The malware often disguises its processes under legitimate-sounding names, making manual detection difficult without dedicated monitoring tools.
The Vulnerability of Containers and Kubernetes Clusters
Container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes are particularly attractive targets. A misconfigured Kubernetes dashboard exposed to the internet gives an attacker direct control over cluster workloads. They can deploy mining pods that scale automatically, consuming every available node in the cluster. Because Kubernetes is designed to allocate resources dynamically, the mining operation can grow faster than a human operator can respond.
Privilege escalation within containers is another concern. An attacker who compromises a single pod with excessive permissions can move laterally across the cluster, deploying miners on every available node. Organizations running managed Kubernetes services (EKS, AKS, GKE) are not immune: the cloud provider manages the control plane, but workload security remains the customer's responsibility.
Why Standard Firewalls Fail to Stop Unauthorized Compute Charges
Traditional perimeter firewalls inspect traffic entering and leaving a network, but cryptojacking traffic often looks like normal outbound HTTPS connections. Mining pools accept connections on standard ports, and the data volume is small relative to typical application traffic. Network-based detection alone will not catch a miner communicating over an encrypted channel to a pool server.
Cloud-native environments compound the problem. Workloads spin up and down constantly, IP addresses change, and east-west traffic between services may bypass firewall inspection entirely. Effective detection requires runtime monitoring at the workload level: process-level visibility, anomalous CPU usage alerts, and integration with cloud billing APIs to flag unexpected spend in near-real time.
By: Caden Braly
Founder of Bloc Cyber Insurance
INDEX
Understanding Cryptojacking and the Hidden Costs of Cloud Abuse
How Cyber Insurance Responds to Unauthorized Compute Charges
Comparison of Coverage: General Cyber vs. Specialized Cryptojacking Endorsements
What a Cryptojacking Claim Looks Like in Practice
Common Questions About Cryptojacking Insurance
Steps to Reduce Your Cryptojacking Exposure
How Policy Forms Address Container and Kubernetes-Specific Risks
Bloc Cyber and Its Licensed Producers Are Authorized to Place Cyber Coverage in All 50 U.S. States and The District of Columbia.
Cyber liability insurance covers the financial losses your business faces after a cyberattack or data breach. This page explains what the coverage includes, who needs it, what it costs, and how Bloc Cyber helps you get protected fast.
We start with a twenty-minute call to walk through your contracts, your draw process, your tech stack, and the last twelve months of attempted fraud. From there we go to market with ten-plus carriers, benchmark terms side-by-side, and present the options in plain language with recommended limits and retentions. Most intakes get indicative terms within one business day.
How Cyber Insurance Responds to Unauthorized Compute Charges
Cyber liability insurance can respond to cryptojacking losses, but coverage depends entirely on how the policy form is written. Not every cyber policy treats unauthorized cloud consumption as a covered loss. Some forms limit first-party coverage to data restoration and business interruption, excluding the inflated infrastructure bill itself. Others include a "cloud computing costs" or "system restoration" insuring agreement that may extend to unauthorized resource consumption.
The trigger matters. Most policies require a "security event" or "network security failure" as the proximate cause of the loss. If the cryptojacking resulted from a credential compromise or malware deployment, that trigger is typically satisfied. If the attacker exploited a misconfiguration that the insured knew about and failed to remediate, the carrier may assert a failure to maintain minimum security standards.
Coverage for Excessive Cloud Provider Bills
Some policy forms explicitly cover "fraudulent use of computer resources" or "unauthorized cloud service charges." These provisions can reimburse the insured for the difference between normal cloud spend and the inflated bill caused by the mining operation. The key is whether the policy treats cloud compute charges as a direct financial loss resulting from a security event.
Sublimits apply in many cases. A policy with a $1 million aggregate limit might cap cloud billing losses at $250,000 or less. Retention amounts (the deductible equivalent) also affect recovery. At Bloc Cyber, the practice is to review these sublimits and retentions at the insuring-agreement level before binding, so you know exactly what the policy will and will not reimburse before a claim arises.
Reimbursement for Detection and Remediation Costs
Incident response costs, including forensic investigation, malware removal, and environment rebuilding, generally fall under the "breach response" or "incident response" insuring agreement. Most cyber policies cover reasonable and necessary expenses incurred to investigate and remediate a security event, which includes hiring a forensic firm to identify the mining malware, determine the scope of the compromise, and confirm that the environment is clean.
Remediation can be expensive. Rebuilding container images, rotating all credentials, auditing IAM policies, and implementing runtime monitoring often costs more than the cloud bill itself. A well-structured policy form will cover these expenses without requiring a separate endorsement, but the specific language varies by carrier and form.
We start with a twenty-minute call to walk through your contracts, your draw process, your tech stack, and the last twelve months of attempted fraud. From there we go to market with ten-plus carriers, benchmark terms side-by-side, and present the options in plain language with recommended limits and retentions. Most intakes get indicative terms within one business day.
Some regulatory proceedings involve parallel tracks: the regulator's formal action and an internal investigation your company runs simultaneously. Shadow defense counsel represents your company's interests during the regulatory process without formally appearing before the agency. Monitoring counsel may be appointed under a consent order to oversee your compliance.
The costs for these roles can be substantial. Certain policy forms cover shadow counsel fees as part of the defense cost grant, while others exclude them entirely. Court-appointed monitors in state enforcement actions have generated significant fees that strain organizational budgets, and whether your policy responds to those costs depends on how the form defines "defense costs" and "regulatory proceeding."
Shadow Defense and Monitoring Counsel Roles
Comparison of Coverage: General Cyber vs. Specialized Cryptojacking Endorsements
| Coverage Element | General Cyber Policy | Cryptojacking Endorsement |
|---|---|---|
| Unauthorized cloud compute charges | May be excluded or subject to low sublimit | Explicitly covered, often with higher sublimit |
| Incident response and forensics | Typically included | Included |
| Business interruption from degraded performance | Covered if waiting period is met | Covered, sometimes with shorter waiting period |
| Container/Kubernetes remediation | Covered under system restoration if triggered | Explicitly addresses cloud-native environments |
| Cloud bill reimbursement | Varies widely by form | Specifically designed for this loss type |
| Retention (deductible) | Standard retention applies | May have separate, lower retention |
A general cyber policy can respond to cryptojacking, but the coverage gaps tend to appear in the details. Specialized endorsements remove ambiguity by naming the loss scenario directly.
Real claims illustrate the exposure more clearly than abstract descriptions. Here are patterns that repeat across the technology sector:
- A SaaS company deploys a billing module that overcharges 12,000 end users over six months. The client demands $410,000 in restitution costs plus $150,000 in legal fees. The tech E&O form responds to the defense and indemnity obligation.
- An MSP fails to complete a server migration on schedule, causing a healthcare client to miss a compliance deadline. The healthcare company faces a regulatory fine and sues the MSP for $275,000. The policy form may respond, but only if the regulatory fine is not excluded as a penalty.
- A custom software vendor delivers an inventory management system that miscounts stock levels. The client loses $600,000 in downstream sales. The vendor's tech E&O policy covers defense costs and settlement, but a sublimit on the policy caps the payout at $500,000.
Average defense costs for technology professional liability claims range from $50,000 to $150,000 depending on complexity and jurisdiction. Settlement amounts vary widely, but six-figure demands are common even for small firms.
We start with a twenty-minute call to walk through your contracts, your draw process, your tech stack, and the last twelve months of attempted fraud. From there we go to market with ten-plus carriers, benchmark terms side-by-side, and present the options in plain language with recommended limits and retentions. Most intakes get indicative terms within one business day.
| Coverage Element | Commercial General Liability | Cyber Insurance |
|---|---|---|
| Data breach notification costs | Not covered | Covered under first-party |
| Ransomware payment | Not covered | Covered (subject to sublimit) |
| Regulatory defense | Not covered | Covered under third-party |
| Business interruption from cyberattack | Not covered | Covered with waiting period |
| Funds transfer fraud | Not covered | Covered via cyber crime endorsement |
| Third-party lawsuit over data loss | Excluded or severely limited | Covered under third-party liability |
| Technology product failure | Not covered | Covered under Tech E&O |
How much does a typical PCI forensic investigation cost?
PFI engagements range from $20,000 for a simple, small-merchant investigation to $120,000 or more for complex environments with multiple locations or e-commerce platforms. The card brands dictate the scope, and the merchant pays.
What a Cryptojacking Claim Looks Like in Practice
A typical claim begins with a billing alert. Your cloud provider notifies you that spend has exceeded a threshold, or your finance team flags a monthly invoice that is three to five times the normal amount. The insured contacts their carrier's breach response hotline, and a forensic firm is engaged to determine the cause.
The forensic investigation identifies mining malware deployed across multiple compute instances or Kubernetes pods. The firm documents the timeline, quantifies the unauthorized compute charges, and confirms that the entry point was a compromised service account credential. The insured submits the cloud provider invoice, forensic report, and remediation expenses to the carrier. If the policy form covers unauthorized cloud resource consumption, the carrier reimburses the insured for covered costs minus the retention.
We start with a twenty-minute call to walk through your contracts, your draw process, your tech stack, and the last twelve months of attempted fraud. From there we go to market with ten-plus carriers, benchmark terms side-by-side, and present the options in plain language with recommended limits and retentions. Most intakes get indicative terms within one business day.
No. A data breach or cyberattack is a cyber liability exposure, not a technology E&O exposure. You need a separate cyber liability policy form to cover breach response, notification costs, regulatory defense, and third-party claims arising from a security incident. Many technology companies carry both policies because the exposures are distinct.
FAQ: Does this cover me if I get hacked?
P2PE encrypts cardholder data from the point of interaction (the card reader) to the payment processor's secure decryption environment. A validated P2PE solution removes your systems from PCI scope for those transactions, which directly reduces both your compliance burden and your risk profile. Underwriters recognize P2PE as a meaningful risk reduction and may offer premium credits for merchants using validated solutions.
Implementing Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE)
Common Questions About Cryptojacking Insurance
Does my existing cyber policy cover cryptojacking losses? It depends on the specific policy form. Some forms include unauthorized cloud compute charges under first-party coverage, while others exclude them. The only way to know is to read the insuring agreements and exclusions before a claim occurs.
Will my cloud provider refund unauthorized charges? Generally, no. AWS, Azure, and GCP hold the account owner responsible for all charges incurred under their credentials. Some providers offer limited abuse credits on a case-by-case basis, but there is no guarantee.
How quickly can a cryptojacking attack generate significant cloud costs? Within hours. An attacker who spins up GPU instances for mining can generate tens of thousands of dollars in charges in a single day, especially if auto-scaling is enabled.
Is cryptojacking considered a data breach? Not typically, since the attacker's goal is compute resources rather than data exfiltration. However, the initial access method may also expose sensitive data, which could trigger breach notification obligations.
Do I need a separate policy for cryptojacking? Not necessarily. A well-written cyber liability policy with appropriate endorsements can cover cryptojacking losses. The key is ensuring the form addresses unauthorized resource consumption explicitly.
Real claims illustrate the exposure more clearly than abstract descriptions. Here are patterns that repeat across the technology sector:
- A SaaS company deploys a billing module that overcharges 12,000 end users over six months. The client demands $410,000 in restitution costs plus $150,000 in legal fees. The tech E&O form responds to the defense and indemnity obligation.
- An MSP fails to complete a server migration on schedule, causing a healthcare client to miss a compliance deadline. The healthcare company faces a regulatory fine and sues the MSP for $275,000. The policy form may respond, but only if the regulatory fine is not excluded as a penalty.
- A custom software vendor delivers an inventory management system that miscounts stock levels. The client loses $600,000 in downstream sales. The vendor's tech E&O policy covers defense costs and settlement, but a sublimit on the policy caps the payout at $500,000.
Average defense costs for technology professional liability claims range from $50,000 to $150,000 depending on complexity and jurisdiction. Settlement amounts vary widely, but six-figure demands are common even for small firms.
We start with a twenty-minute call to walk through your contracts, your draw process, your tech stack, and the last twelve months of attempted fraud. From there we go to market with ten-plus carriers, benchmark terms side-by-side, and present the options in plain language with recommended limits and retentions. Most intakes get indicative terms within one business day.
| Coverage Element | Commercial General Liability | Cyber Insurance |
|---|---|---|
| Data breach notification costs | Not covered | Covered under first-party |
| Ransomware payment | Not covered | Covered (subject to sublimit) |
| Regulatory defense | Not covered | Covered under third-party |
| Business interruption from cyberattack | Not covered | Covered with waiting period |
| Funds transfer fraud | Not covered | Covered via cyber crime endorsement |
| Third-party lawsuit over data loss | Excluded or severely limited | Covered under third-party liability |
| Technology product failure | Not covered | Covered under Tech E&O |
Will my policy pay for the fines if I'm not compliant?
This depends entirely on the policy form. Some forms cover PCI fines only if the merchant was making good-faith compliance efforts. Others exclude fines arising from known non-compliance. Read the exclusions carefully before binding.
How much does a typical PCI forensic investigation cost?
PFI engagements range from $20,000 for a simple, small-merchant investigation to $120,000 or more for complex environments with multiple locations or e-commerce platforms. The card brands dictate the scope, and the merchant pays.
What is the difference between a fine and an assessment?
A fine is a penalty for non-compliance with PCI DSS standards. An assessment is a cost-recovery mechanism: the card brands and issuing banks recoup their actual losses (fraud charges, card replacement costs) from the breached merchant. Both are financial obligations, but they arise from different triggers and may be treated differently under a policy form.
Steps to Reduce Your Cryptojacking Exposure
- Enable billing alerts and spending caps on every cloud account.
- Rotate access keys and service account credentials on a regular schedule.
- Scan container images for known mining malware before deployment.
- Restrict Kubernetes dashboard access and enforce role-based access controls.
- Deploy runtime security monitoring that flags anomalous CPU and GPU usage.
- Review your cyber policy's cloud computing and system restoration provisions annually.
These controls do not eliminate the risk, but they reduce the window of exposure and demonstrate the security posture that carriers expect.
We start with a twenty-minute call to walk through your contracts, your draw process, your tech stack, and the last twelve months of attempted fraud. From there we go to market with ten-plus carriers, benchmark terms side-by-side, and present the options in plain language with recommended limits and retentions. Most intakes get indicative terms within one business day.
No. A data breach or cyberattack is a cyber liability exposure, not a technology E&O exposure. You need a separate cyber liability policy form to cover breach response, notification costs, regulatory defense, and third-party claims arising from a security incident. Many technology companies carry both policies because the exposures are distinct.
FAQ: Does this cover me if I get hacked?
P2PE encrypts cardholder data from the point of interaction (the card reader) to the payment processor's secure decryption environment. A validated P2PE solution removes your systems from PCI scope for those transactions, which directly reduces both your compliance burden and your risk profile. Underwriters recognize P2PE as a meaningful risk reduction and may offer premium credits for merchants using validated solutions.
Implementing Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE)
How Policy Forms Address Container and Kubernetes-Specific Risks
Most standard cyber policy forms were written before container orchestration became mainstream. The language often references "computer systems" or "networks" without explicitly addressing ephemeral workloads, container registries, or orchestration platforms. This creates ambiguity when a claim involves compromised Kubernetes pods rather than traditional servers.
Newer forms and endorsements are beginning to address this gap. Some carriers now include definitions that encompass "cloud-native infrastructure" or "containerized workloads" within the scope of covered systems. If your organization runs production workloads on Kubernetes, confirming that the policy form's definitions extend to these environments is a critical step in the placement process. Bloc Cyber's approach is to review the form's system definitions and match them to the insured's actual architecture before binding.
Real claims illustrate the exposure more clearly than abstract descriptions. Here are patterns that repeat across the technology sector:
- A SaaS company deploys a billing module that overcharges 12,000 end users over six months. The client demands $410,000 in restitution costs plus $150,000 in legal fees. The tech E&O form responds to the defense and indemnity obligation.
- An MSP fails to complete a server migration on schedule, causing a healthcare client to miss a compliance deadline. The healthcare company faces a regulatory fine and sues the MSP for $275,000. The policy form may respond, but only if the regulatory fine is not excluded as a penalty.
- A custom software vendor delivers an inventory management system that miscounts stock levels. The client loses $600,000 in downstream sales. The vendor's tech E&O policy covers defense costs and settlement, but a sublimit on the policy caps the payout at $500,000.
Average defense costs for technology professional liability claims range from $50,000 to $150,000 depending on complexity and jurisdiction. Settlement amounts vary widely, but six-figure demands are common even for small firms.
We start with a twenty-minute call to walk through your contracts, your draw process, your tech stack, and the last twelve months of attempted fraud. From there we go to market with ten-plus carriers, benchmark terms side-by-side, and present the options in plain language with recommended limits and retentions. Most intakes get indicative terms within one business day.
| Coverage Element | Commercial General Liability | Cyber Insurance |
|---|---|---|
| Data breach notification costs | Not covered | Covered under first-party |
| Ransomware payment | Not covered | Covered (subject to sublimit) |
| Regulatory defense | Not covered | Covered under third-party |
| Business interruption from cyberattack | Not covered | Covered with waiting period |
| Funds transfer fraud | Not covered | Covered via cyber crime endorsement |
| Third-party lawsuit over data loss | Excluded or severely limited | Covered under third-party liability |
| Technology product failure | Not covered | Covered under Tech E&O |
Will my policy pay for the fines if I'm not compliant?
This depends entirely on the policy form. Some forms cover PCI fines only if the merchant was making good-faith compliance efforts. Others exclude fines arising from known non-compliance. Read the exclusions carefully before binding.
How much does a typical PCI forensic investigation cost?
PFI engagements range from $20,000 for a simple, small-merchant investigation to $120,000 or more for complex environments with multiple locations or e-commerce platforms. The card brands dictate the scope, and the merchant pays.
What is the difference between a fine and an assessment?
A fine is a penalty for non-compliance with PCI DSS standards. An assessment is a cost-recovery mechanism: the card brands and issuing banks recoup their actual losses (fraud charges, card replacement costs) from the breached merchant. Both are financial obligations, but they arise from different triggers and may be treated differently under a policy form.
How Cloud Bill Reimbursement Works Under a Cyber Policy
Cloud bill reimbursement is not automatic. The insured must demonstrate that the charges resulted directly from a covered security event, not from a configuration error, forgotten test environment, or legitimate usage spike. The carrier will typically require the forensic report, cloud provider billing data, and a baseline of normal monthly spend to calculate the covered loss.
The reimbursement covers the delta: the difference between your normal cloud spend and the inflated charges caused by the mining operation. Some forms also cover the cost of engaging the cloud provider's support team to identify and terminate the unauthorized resources. Retention amounts apply, so if your policy carries a $10,000 retention and the unauthorized charges total $35,000, your reimbursement would be $25,000 minus any applicable sublimit constraints.
We start with a twenty-minute call to walk through your contracts, your draw process, your tech stack, and the last twelve months of attempted fraud. From there we go to market with ten-plus carriers, benchmark terms side-by-side, and present the options in plain language with recommended limits and retentions. Most intakes get indicative terms within one business day.
No. A data breach or cyberattack is a cyber liability exposure, not a technology E&O exposure. You need a separate cyber liability policy form to cover breach response, notification costs, regulatory defense, and third-party claims arising from a security incident. Many technology companies carry both policies because the exposures are distinct.
FAQ: Does this cover me if I get hacked?
P2PE encrypts cardholder data from the point of interaction (the card reader) to the payment processor's secure decryption environment. A validated P2PE solution removes your systems from PCI scope for those transactions, which directly reduces both your compliance burden and your risk profile. Underwriters recognize P2PE as a meaningful risk reduction and may offer premium credits for merchants using validated solutions.
Implementing Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE)
The Bottom Line for Your Cloud Security Strategy
Cryptojacking is a financial risk, not just a security inconvenience. The combination of auto-scaling cloud infrastructure, silent mining malware, and policies that may or may not cover unauthorized compute charges creates a gap that many organizations do not discover until they are holding a six-figure cloud bill. Understanding how your cyber policy responds to this specific scenario, at the insuring-agreement level, is the difference between a covered claim and an out-of-pocket loss.
If you are running workloads in the cloud and have not confirmed that your policy addresses unauthorized resource consumption, container abuse, and cloud bill reimbursement, the time to review that form is before the next billing cycle. Consider requesting a
coverage review so a specialist can walk through the policy form with you and identify where the coverage stops before a claim finds the gap for you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caden Braly
— Founder, Bloc Cyber
I'm Caden Braly, founder of Bloc Cyber, the specialty cyber insurance arm of Braly Insurance. I built Bloc Cyber around one idea: businesses deserve coverage that actually responds when a cyberattack happens. I work closely with clients to understand their exposure, place the right policy through specialty carriers, and stand with them through the claim. My goal is simple — give every business straight answers and protection they can trust.
Full profile → caden@bloccyber.com LinkedIn
Industries We Protect
Cyber Coverage Built for Your Industry
Every industry faces a different cyber threat, from patient records in healthcare to wire fraud in construction. Bloc Cyber matches coverage to the risks your sector actually faces, drawing on specialty carriers that understand your business. Find your industry below to see how we protect it.
Healthcare
Banking
Retail / E-Commerce
Legal
Technology / SaaS
Education
Energy / Utilities
Manufacturing
Construction
Defense
Healthcare
HIPAA-grade protection for patient data
725
healthcare breaches disclosed in 2024
HIPAA-grade protection for patient data
▣ Ransomware on EHR systems
▣ PHI exfiltration
▣ Medical device exploits
▣ Business email compromise
Sub-sectors we place
Hospitals and health systems
Physician practices and specialty clinics
Dental practices and DSOs
Behavioral health and addiction treatment centers
Medical billing and revenue cycle management firms
Typical turnaround for indication of terms: 1 business day.
Banking
Coverage that meets FFIEC and NYDFS expectations
$5.9M
average cost of a financial sector breach
Common threats we underwrite against
▣ Wire fraud and BEC
▣ Credential stuffing
▣ Third-party vendor risk
▣ Ransomware
Sub-sectors we place
Community banks
Credit unions
Mortgage lenders and loan originators
Wealth management and RIAs
Payment processors and merchant acquirers
Typical turnaround for indication of terms: 1 business day.
Retail / E-Commerce
PCI-DSS aligned coverage for every checkout
42%
of retailers hit by ransomware in the last year
Common threats we underwrite against
▣ Magecart / card skimming
▣ POS malware
▣ Account takeover
▣ Supply-chain intrusion
Sub-sectors we place
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands
Shopify and marketplace sellers
Brick-and-mortar multi-location retailers
Restaurants and QSR franchises
Grocery and specialty food retail
Typical turnaround for indication of terms: 1 business day.
Legal
Privilege, client files, and trust-account safeguards
1 in 4
law firms reported a breach in 2024
Common threats we underwrite against
▣ Wire-transfer fraud
▣ Privileged data theft
▣ Email account compromise
▣ Ransomware
Sub-sectors we place
AmLaw / large firms
Boutique litigation firms
Personal injury and plaintiffs’ firms
Estate planning and trust attorneys
Title and real estate closing firms
Typical turnaround for indication of terms: 1 business day.
Technology / SaaS
SOC 2 and ISO-aligned risk transfer
$4.88M
avg. cost of a SaaS breach in 2024
Common threats we underwrite against
▣ Supply-chain attacks
▣ Cloud misconfiguration
▣ Token and key theft
▣ Zero-day exploits
Sub-sectors we place
B2B SaaS platforms
Managed service providers (MSPs) and MSSPs
Fintech startups
AI and machine learning companies
Cloud hosting and infrastructure providers
Typical turnaround for indication of terms: 1 business day.
Education
FERPA-aligned coverage for student and research data
80%
of K–12 districts hit by ransomware since 2022
Common threats we underwrite against
▣ Ransomware on district networks
▣ Student PII theft
▣ Fake invoice fraud
▣ DDoS on exam platforms
Sub-sectors we place
K-12 public school districts
Private and charter schools
Colleges and universities
EdTech platforms
Tutoring, test prep, and online learning providers
Typical turnaround for indication of terms: 1 business day.
Energy / Utilities
OT and IT coverage for critical infrastructure
24/7
operational-tech monitoring requirements
Common threats we underwrite against
▣ ICS/SCADA intrusion
▣ Nation-state actors
▣ Ransomware on OT
▣ Insider threat
Sub-sectors we place
Municipal utilities (water, electric, gas)
Oil and gas operators
Pipeline and midstream companies
Renewable energy (solar, wind) developers
Electric cooperatives and rural utilities
Typical turnaround for indication of terms: 1 business day.
Manufacturing
Business interruption protection for connected plants
25%
of all ransomware attacks target manufacturing
Common threats we underwrite against
▣ Ransomware halting production
▣ IP theft
▣ ICS exploits
▣ Vendor compromise
Sub-sectors we place
Industrial and heavy equipment manufacturers
Food and beverage processing
Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers
Automotive and parts suppliers
Aerospace component manufacturers
Typical turnaround for indication of terms: 1 business day.
Construction
Protection for project files, wires, and jobsite tech
$200K+
average wire-fraud loss in construction
Common threats we underwrite against
▣ Wire-transfer diversion
▣ BEC on project payments
▣ Stolen bid data
▣ Ransomware
Sub-sectors we place
General contractors
Commercial HVAC, electrical, and plumbing subs
Civil and infrastructure contractors
Homebuilders and residential developers
Architecture and engineering (A&E) firms
Typical turnaround for indication of terms: 1 business day.
Defense
CMMC, DFARS, and CUI-compliant risk transfer
CMMC
2.0 compliance required by 2026
Common threats we underwrite against
▣ CUI exfiltration
▣ Nation-state APTs
▣ Supply-chain compromise
▣ Cleared-personnel targeting
Sub-sectors we place
DoD prime contractors
CMMC-regulated subcontractors
Defense software and systems integrators
Aerospace and satellite contractors
Federal IT and cleared staffing firms
Typical turnaround for indication of terms: 1 business day.
The Bloc system
One foundation.
Ten industry-specific builds.
The Bloc mark is built from stackable planes — each one a different angle on the same core structure. That’s how we place coverage: one underwriting discipline, tuned and re-tuned for every industry we serve.
Coverage
A policy you can actually read.
Structured in three clean blocs.
01
First-Party
Your direct losses when an incident hits your business.
✓
Incident response & forensics
✓
Business interruption
✓ Data restoration
✓ Cyber extortion / ransomware
✓ Funds transfer fraud
✓ Reputational harm
02
Third-Party
Your liability to clients, partners, and regulators.
✓
Network security liability
✓
Privacy liability (HIPAA, GDPR, state laws)
✓ Regulatory defense & fines
✓ PCI-DSS fines and assessments
✓ Media liability
✓ Breach notification costs
03
Specialty
Advanced coverages for complex risks and contracts.
✓
Technology E&O
✓
Social engineering fraud
✓ Contingent business interruption
✓ Systems failure
✓ Bricking & hardware replacement
✓ CMMC / regulatory-specific endorsements
Typical limits placed
$1M / $1M starter
$5M / $10M mid-market
$25M+ layered towers
Custom retentions
Common Questions
Cyber Liability Insurance, Explained
What does cyber insurance cover?
Cyber insurance covers the financial losses from a data breach or cyberattack. This includes breach response, legal fees, customer notification, ransomware, business interruption, and regulatory fines, depending on your policy.
Does my business really need cyber insurance?
Yes. Any business that stores customer data, processes payments, or relies on connected systems faces cyber risk. Small and mid-sized companies are frequent targets because they often have fewer defenses.
How much does cyber insurance cost?
Cost depends on your industry, revenue, data volume, and security practices. We market your risk to multiple carriers to find strong coverage at a competitive price. Request a quote for an exact figure.
What is the difference between first-party and third-party cyber coverage?
First-party coverage pays for your own losses, like data recovery and lost income. Third-party coverage pays for claims from others harmed by a breach on your systems.
How fast can I get a quote?
Most clients receive a quote in under 24 hours after we review the details of their business and exposure.
What should I do first after a cyberattack?
Contact us right away. We help you start breach response, connect you with forensic and legal support, and guide your claim so you contain the damage quickly.
Insights
Field notes from the placement desk.
What carriers are asking right now.
Start a quote
Tell us about your business.
We’ll come back with terms.
We’ll review your stack, your contracts, and your exposure — then place the program against the right markets. Most intakes get indicative terms back within one business day.
01
Quick intake
We only ask what the carriers actually need.
02
Benchmark
Side-by-side terms from 10+ specialty cyber carriers.
03
Bind
Plain-language policy review, e-signed and in force.
