As per the latest estimates of the UAE Cybersecurity Council, the Gulf country’s cyber insurance market is estimated to be around USD 70 million, as the businesses, while accelerating their digital transformation efforts, are also getting cautious about the increasing sophistication of cyber threats that are targeting individuals and organisations alike.
The UAE Cybersecurity Council, while underscoring the importance of digital risk protection across the sectors, stated that cyber insurance has emerged as a key tool for mitigating the fallouts caused due to the threat actors’ actions, including system breaches, data leaks and disruptions to digital services.
Coverage typically includes incident investigation costs, data recovery, legal liabilities and compensation claims, enabling organisations to recover more quickly and reduce financial losses.
The Council expects cyber insurance premiums to increase significantly in the coming days due to the growing scale and complexity of cyber threats, with attackers becoming more flawless in using technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and social engineering tools.
“Around 80% of institutions and companies in the UAE now recognise cyber insurance as an essential component of risk management strategies,” remarked the council, while emphasising that cyber insurance should complement, rather than replace, core cybersecurity measures within a comprehensive protection framework.
“The Council underscored the importance of cyber insurance in critical sectors including financial services, healthcare and energy, where cyberattacks could disrupt essential services or expose sensitive data, resulting in both financial and reputational damage. It also noted that cyber insurance supports compliance with regulatory standards, as many insurers require organisations to implement minimum cybersecurity controls before granting coverage. This encourages institutions to strengthen their cybersecurity readiness and adopt international best practices,” reported the Emirates News Agency.
The Council sees greater integration between insurance providers and cybersecurity companies in the future, through solutions combining prevention, insurance coverage and incident response services. Data analytics, on the other hand, will play an increasing role in assessing risks and pricing policies according to the businesses’ specific needs.