Cyber security resilience 2025 – Claims and risk management trends - Allianz Commercial

Navigate to: Watch the recording of our webinar Download report Cyber security resilience 2025 – Claims and risk          management trends Report | September 2025 Download the report in English Read the accompanying press release in English Download the report in German Read the accompanying press release in German The cyber risk and insurance landscape in 2025 reveals a complex and evolving threat environment. Large insured companies are becoming increasingly resilient against attacks with strengthening of cyber security and preparedness and response capabilities helping to mitigate the impact of some of the large cyber losses in 2025 to date. However, the reliance on digital supply chains, impact of expanding privacy regulation, and more sophisticated social engineering attacks targeting employees are broadening the scope of potential losses for all companies, according to Allianz Commercial’s latest cyber risk report. Photo: Adobe Stock Claims and loss trends Analysis of Allianz Commercial cyber claims shows the overall frequency of notifications during the first half of 2025 was in line with a year earlier after a significant year-on-year increase during 2023 compared with 2022. Despite the increasing sophistication and volume of attacks companies face, claims severity has declined by more than 50% while the frequency of large loss claims (> €1mn) is down around 30%, driven by larger companies’ cumulative investments in cyber security, detection and response. However, the expanding risk landscape means there is no room for complacency. Ransomware attacks remain the top driver of cyber incidents, but in this year’s report, contingent business interruption, technology failures and privacy litigation emerge as main sources of losses –  incidents such as wrongful collection or processing of data, and outages accounted for a record 28% of the value of large claims in 2024.  Data exfiltration a top loss driver As large companies have improved their response capabilities, recent years have seen a shift from purely extortion-based ransomware attacks to double extortion including data exfiltration – 40% of large cyber claims (€1mn+) during the first half of 2025 included data theft, up from 25% in 2024. Attack-driven losses involving data exfiltration were more than double the value of those without. Data exfiltration is easier and faster for attackers than encryption and increases the likelihood of ransom payments. The average global data breach cost hit an all-time high (almost US$5mn) in 2024, driven by factors such as the impact of stricter data privacy regulation.  The rise of sophisticated social engineering and credential-based attacks Recent cyber-attacks display common tactics, including using sophisticated social engineering and compromised credentials to access networks, such as impersonating an employee locked out of an IT system. Many attacks also leverage suppliers or IT supply chains to access sensitive information. Approximately 60% of breaches in 2024 involved a human element. Attackers increasingly use compromised access credentials obtained via phishing or sold on the dark net, with a surge in specialist “brokers” operating in this space. Manufacturers, professional services, and retailers most impacted sectors Retailers top the list of industries attacked during the first half of 2025 and are the third most impacted sector by cyber incidents, behind manufacturing and professional services, according to analysis of Allianz Commercial large cyber claims (>€1mn) since 2020. Companies in the manufacturing sector accounted for 33% of these claims by value, professional services/consulting firms (18%), and retail companies (9%).  Supply chain dependency risks The emergence of claims related to growing dependencies of IT supply chains is a key emerging trend. Contingent business interruption (CBI) supply chain events accounted for 15% of large cyber claims (€1mn+) by value during the first half of 2025, compared with 6% in 2024. Such losses can result from both attacks and technical faults, causing disruption to a critical service such as software or cloud services. The risk of breaches at companies’ IT suppliers and partners is harder to control. Vendors need to be well managed from a contractual perspective, but also around access control, monitoring and audits of suppliers. Privacy regulation and litigation continues to develop Data breaches and privacy actions relating to wrongful collection and processing of data, for example, have increased in recent years, accounting for a record 18% of large claims (>€1mn) by value analyzed in 2024, triple the share of three years earlier. Meanwhile, during the first half of 2025, technology/media professional indemnity claims accounted for a quarter of large cyber claims by value, up from 21% in 2024. Many are for legal actions against technology companies related to service performance, technical failings, and alleged breaches of privacy regulations and requirements, but they can result from attacks too. Photo: Adobe Stock Detection, response, and training – helping to reduce the cost of claims Recent cyber-attacks have demonstrated the value of effective cyber hygiene, early detection, and incident response capabilities and their roles in reducing potential claim costs. Analysis shows in over 80% of large claims, insureds’ decisions significantly influenced loss size. Detection and response capabilities can reduce claim costs by a factor of 1,000. Widening gap: insureds grow more resilient The cyber-resilience gap between uninsured and insured organizations is widening. For example, in Germany, insurance industry figures show that the loss impact of cyber insureds increased by around 70% over four years, well below the 250% increase in the economic impact of cyber crime during the same period. This resilience gap reflects cyber insurance policyholders’ heightened awareness of risk and their actions to mitigate it, many of which are a condition of obtaining insurance. It also reflects the effectiveness of risk prevention services and advice and incident response assistance provided by insurers. Business interruption losses, which account for over 50% of cyber claim values, are closely correlated to early detection and containment and incident response, and business continuity planning will significantly reduce costs.  Insurance market outlook While cyber insureds have made significant strides in mitigating large cyber losses through improved security and preparedness, the evolving threat landscape and regulatory pressure requires ongoing vigilance and investment. Cyber insurance remains a crucial component in managing these risks, providing both financial protection and access to expertise that enhances overall cyber resilience. The global cyber insurance market is expected to more than double to nearly US$30bn by the end of the decade, driven by increasing digitalization and growing awareness. Despite relatively low penetration, demand is rising, especially among mid-sized firms and regions with a historically low uptake.  Download the report in English Read the accompanying press release in English Download the report in German Read the accompanying press release in German Cyber security resilience webinar 2025 In order to share how companies can best prepare and respond to cyber-attacks, and discuss the latest cyber trends, on September 30 we hosted our annual cyber security resilience webinar. During the 1h session our leading experts discussed the latest cyber claims trends, loss drivers and provided insights on how companies can best prepare and respond to these developments.  You can now watch the 1-hour webinar recording. 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