One of the greatest gifts of human efforts working towards improvement of technology is the introduction of Internet. These signal transmissions not only connect people across large distances but also open a gateway of knowledge and information accessible to all. The increased facility and ease of usage has not only raised the number of users on the electronic platform but has also volumized the available services on this platform.

E-services have a vast domain

Online services offered via internet include information retrieval; communication via email, audio/video calls; ecommerce through portals permitting sale/ purchase of goods/ services; bank transactions, etc. The access to such services requires the personal and sensitive information of the users. Often, the disclosure of such personal and sensitive information leads to criminal activities such as impersonation, data theft, financial theft, hacking, privacy invasion, etc.

E-Insurance

Insurance are the contracts of indemnity which provide an umbrella protection mitigating the loss/ damage caused due to the occurrence of an uncertain event. In India, insurance policies provided are life, fire, marine, vehicle (including third party insurance), commercial crime, etc.

Although, insured is indemnified against all financial losses and/or property loss sustained by him/her which accrued as a direct result of any criminal act, theft, fraud, or robbery the same does not cover crimes occurring on the e-platform.

With the increasing cybercrimes in the modern cyberworld, there remains a requirement of an insurance cover safeguarding the interests of the users of the online media. Indian companies are increasingly seen opting for cyber insurance to get aspects like forensic costs, cyber extortion costs and other first-party expenses covered.1 There has been a growth in the number of policies by almost 25% cumulatively over the past four years and we expect this figure to go up by another 30% post implementation of Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018.

With the advancement in science and technologies, criminal strategies have also reached the next updated level causing threat amongst the users of the electronic media. In view of increasing online transactions in the modern world, protection against these cybercrimes has become the need of the hour. Therefore, more number of people are applying for insurance cover in this regard to diminish their consequential losses. It will also open big door of business to insurance companies.

Footnote

1. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/insurance-against-cyberattacks-grows-quick/articleshow/65714134.cms

For further information please contact at S.S Rana & Co. email: info@ssrana.in or call at (+91- 11 4012 3000). Our website can be accessed at www.ssrana.in

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.