Your home, car, and travel are insured. Why do we leave our digital lives to chance?

According to Alver Kivirüüt, Head of the Product Department at LHV Kindlustus, the traditional insurance market needs new solutions. In his blog post, he explains how Estonia’s first cyber insurance service for private customers came about in collaboration with Telia, and what practical protection it offers against everyday cyber threats.

If you were to ask any passer-by on the street what they have insured, the answer would almost always be the same: their car and home, and sometimes travel or their life. Compulsory motor third-party liability insurance is a legal obligation; home insurance is a prerequisite for a home loan; and when we go on holiday, we are used to protecting ourselves against the unexpected.

The insurance industry has indeed relied on established practices, but our everyday lives have changed beyond recognition over the last few decades. A quick glance at our daily lives is enough to realise just how much of our daily business we have entrusted to screens. Most of our money, conversations, photos, purchases, work, and documents are stored online.

Focusing on this realisation, a simple yet fundamental question arose: if people’s lives have moved into the digital realm, why should our sense of security be limited to the physical world alone?

Caution is no longer enough

Time and again, the media brings us news of people who have lost thousands or even tens of thousands of euros. Cybercriminals have such convincing tactics at their disposal that a single second of inattention is enough to fall victim to a scam.

The scale and complexity of fraud are evolving faster than people can adapt. Until now, the only way to protect oneself against cybercrime was through prevention: by being vigilant and hoping for the best. However, once an accident had occurred, the person was often left to cope with their financial losses and worries on their own.

It was precisely this need that gave rise to the idea of creating something entirely new: Estonia’s first cyber insurance service aimed at private customers. This is a superb example of what is possible when two leaders in their respective fields join forces, as Telia’s technological expertise has been combined with LHV’s insurance know-how to create this service. For the first time, people in Estonia can now receive support from a single point of contact both for resolving cyber incidents and for protection against their financial consequences.

The new cyber insurance service is a comprehensive three-stage solution that supports people at every stage.

• Prevention and control. Telia Security Network performs background work at the network level, blocking dangerous websites and malware before they reach the user.
• Rapid advice and cyber support. In the event of a suspected or actual incident, Telia provides immediate cyber support, helping the affected person resolve the situation step by step.
• Financial insurance cover. If, however, a loss has occurred, LHV Kindlustus steps in to compensate the victim for any financial loss caused by fraud or a cyber-attack.

What does cyber insurance actually cover?

Our aim was to create an insurance service that would cover the most critical and damaging digital risks. Cyber insurance covers four types of loss:

• online fraud, such as making a purchase from a fake online shop;
• phishing, for example, financial loss from an unauthorized transaction made with stolen authentication or card data;
• cyber extortion, for example, the costs of data recovery or assessing the feasibility of recovery;
• costs associated with cyberbullying, such as psychological counselling.

For all four types of loss, the sum insured is up to EUR 2,500 per claim, and the customer’s excess is EUR 100.

Cover extends to the whole family and travels with your devices

Cyber risks are not confined to the home, which is why the insurance cover is not tied only to your home internet connection. It is valid within the territory specified in the terms and conditions, even when you are away from home, whether you use a mobile data connection, a Wi-Fi network, or any other internet connection. Telia Shield itself protects devices on the Telia home internet network.

In addition, the insurance cover extends to family members permanently living at the same address: the policyholder’s spouse or cohabiting partner, their children up to the age of 21, and the policyholder’s parents. Cyber insurance is intended for Telia Home Internet private customers and can be added to the Telia Shield Home service. You can easily sign up for the cyber insurance via Telia’s self-service portal.

The threats lurking in cyberspace cannot be completely eliminated, but we can ensure that a single human error does not turn a family’s budget or peace of mind upside down. The aim of cyber insurance is therefore to provide a solid safety net for our digital lives and to mitigate the consequences of an attack, so that customers can get back to their normal routine as quickly as possible.

It’s high time we made the digital world truly safe for ourselves and our families.

Find out more about cyber insurance on the LHV and Telia websites.