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Data breaches have escalated among UK businesses giving rise to hundreds of cyber insurance claims iStock

Hacking attempts on businesses in the UK have grown rapidly with insurance claims for data breach being made at a rate of more than one per day.

CFC Underwriting, an insurance firm well known for their cyber insurance, said that claims on its policies were up by 78% compared to last year. The firm has already handled more than 400 claims on cyber-breach policies it had issued in 2016.

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Most of the breaches can be linked to the massive amount of stolen data being shared online as privacy hacks topped the list of claims with 31% reporting theft of private data. This was followed by financial loss at 22% that transcends to theft of either liquid currency or funds from banks.

Ransomware attacks, a situation where data is encrypted unless victims pay cash to the hacker, came in third with 16% of claims. Surprisingly malware attacks, which are considered a very common phenomenon these days, accounted for just 7% of claims.

The CFC Underwriting report also highlighted how businesses in the UK are far less equipped to handle such breaches as compared to those in the US.

"About 90% of our claims by volume are from businesses with less than £50m [$61m] in revenue," said Graeme Newman, chief innovation officer at the firm. He added that a rather "disproportionate" number of claims were being made by British firms mainly because of their lower level of security than their US counterparts.

The low level of security by UK firms is the primary reason that most cyber policies by UK businesses only added up to a few million pounds with the highest cover being available for £25m. Compared to this, cyber insurers in the US are offering the highest policy cover for up to $100m.