Ransomware attack hits insurance broker Arthur J Gallagher

Arthur J Gallagher’s internal systems were hit by a ransomware attack on September 26, the insurance brokerage firm has confirmed.

Gallagher said in a brief statement that, based on the information currently known in the early stages of the investigation, the incident appears to have impacted only a "limited portion" of its systems.

At this point, the broker does not expect it to have a material impact on its operations or financial condition, and has restarted most of its business systems.

"We promptly took all of our global systems offline as a precautionary measure, initiated response protocols, launched an investigation, engaged the services of external cybersecurity and forensics professionals, and implemented our business continuity plans to minimize disruption to our customers," said Arthur J Gallagher in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

According to a recent Beazley Breach Response (BBR) report, ransomware attacks increased by a quarter in the first three months of 2020, compared to 2019. BBR noted that cyber criminals are taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its latest report, broker Aon also warned insurers and reinsurers that " ransomware will be the main claims story of 2020 as well", presenting a real challenge around how they identify, quantify, mitigate or transfer these new risks in a period of such fast-paced change and uncertainty.