Wealthy individuals can now buy up to $1M in cybersecurity insurance

An illustration picture shows a projection of binary code around the shadow of a man holding a laptop computer in an office in Warsaw June 24, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel (POLAND - Tags: BUSINESS TELECOMS) (Reuters) Wealthy individuals now have the option of buying their own cybersecurity protection, to cover up to $1 million in potential financial losses. The insurance option is one of the first offerings of its kind, providing cybersecurity coverage to individuals rather than corporations. It is the brainchild of Silicon Valley cybersecurity startup Rubica and Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), a member-owned insurer designed for wealthy families. “Rubica receives calls daily from individuals who have experienced a cybercrime incident, frequently resulting in a financial loss ranging from $75,000 to $1 million and well beyond,” said Joe Levy, Rubica’s chief revenue officer, in a press release. PURE Starling, an add-on to the company’s homeowner’s policy, will reimburse subscribers for financial losses related to cyber fraud, provide assistance for dealing with extortion threats, remove malicious software and reinstall safe programs in the wake of a hack. More on this... Personal information security has risen to the forefront of the national discourse in the wake of the massive Equifax (EFX) breach that compromised the personally identifiable information of more than 145 million Americans. A cybersecurity expert told the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday that consumers would forever have to be concerned about their financial security if birth dates and Social Security numbers had been compromised.