The impact of Covid-19 on cybercrime and insurance claims

NELSON MATHEUSThe confinement and restriction of movement to curb the spread of Covid-19 by means of lockdowns, curfews and quarantines have had people house-bound close to a year. The demand for online services has increased due to the limited physical interactions and group gatherings. The rapid increase of remote applications, networks, and systems by companies and employees portrays the vulnerabilities of remote work to cybercriminal attacks.The exploitation of individuals and organisations by cybercriminals as way to make easy money has caused major disruptions to business operations. They use sophisticated tactics to target personal and corporate data, causing significant financial losses and or reputational damage to organisations and individuals.On 7 February 2021, the server at Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) in Windhoek was attacked by this malware. As a result, its booking system – Innkeeper - and its email server became unresponsive, according to the managing director, Dr Matthias Ngwangwama.The same risk may potentially affect insurance companies. It may especially impact clients with cyber cover policy. Claims of this nature can have a significant impact and long-term effect on the re/insurer’s balance sheet. According to NTT Security (2020), cybercrime costs the global economy more than US$600 billion each year, with no sign of slowing down.All is not lost, there are steps that individuals and big corporates can take to mitigate and protect themselves against cyber risks.Companies can take out cybercrime insurance cover to cover business liability for data breach that involves sensitive customer information, such as credit card numbers, account numbers and health record etc. Maintaining an updated hardware and software protection regularly and invest in the latest tech-equipment. In the case of staff working remotely, there should be robust guidelines set for data access to ensure that data is accessed from secured internet connection.Employees should receive security awareness and responsive processes training s in case of cyber-attack. “If we don’t adapt, we go burst”.* Nelson Matheus is a chief claims officer at NamibRe.

The impact of Covid-19 on cybercrime and insurance claims

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-29

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The impact of Covid-19 on cybercrime and insurance claims

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-29

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