CyberOne: When Attacks Move at Machine Speed, Can Your Incident Response Keep Up?

In Q2 2026, 2,279 ransomware victims were publicly reported, up 7% from the previous quarter and 43% year on year. With more than 90 active ransomware groups operating globally, cybercrime has become a highly organised and fast-moving industry.

AI is adding further momentum by helping criminals refine phishing, research targets and analyse stolen data more quickly. This gives organisations less time to spot suspicious activity and contain an attack before it causes wider disruption.

For MGAs and insured businesses, that makes readiness increasingly important. Cyber insurance can help manage the financial impact, but recovery still depends on having the right expertise, clear response arrangements and the ability to act without delay.

The early stages of a cyber incident are often uncertain, making timely decisions critical. Speed is important, but so is judgement. Actions such as suspending accounts or isolating systems can contain the threat, but they must be balanced against their impact on customers, employees and business operations.

If responsibilities have not been agreed in advance, valuable time may be lost confirming who can authorise containment, when the MGA, broker or insurer should be notified, and which incident response provider will be engaged.

A prepared arrangement gives the insured, MGA, insurer and technical response team a clear escalation route from the outset. This allows containment and the claims process to begin together, reducing delay, disruption and the risk of the incident escalating.

Cyber insurance helps organisations manage the financial impact of an incident, including investigation, business interruption, legal support, notification and recovery costs, depending on the policy.

Incident response addresses the attack itself. Specialists identify how access was gained, determine whether the attacker is still active, contain affected systems and preserve evidence so recovery can begin safely.

These functions are closely linked. Insurance can cover eligible losses, but the severity of a claim often depends on how quickly the threat is contained and operations are restored. Organisations should therefore know in advance what response support is available, how it will be activated and who can authorise urgent action.

Pre-agreed contacts, commercial terms and responsibilities allow responders to begin work with minimal delay, while giving the MGA and insurer clear visibility over scope, progress and cost.

The cost of poor preparation can be substantial. UK Government-commissioned research estimates that a significant cyberattack costs a UK business almost £195,000 on average, while the wider annual cost to UK businesses is approximately £14.7 billion.

This makes incident readiness an insurance concern, not only a technical one. The longer an organisation takes to identify, contain and recover from an attack, the greater the risk of disruption and rising claim costs.

MGAs can strengthen readiness by looking beyond whether an insured business has security tools in place. The key question is whether it can act decisively when those controls fail.

That means confirming how incidents will be escalated, who can authorise containment and which specialists will be engaged. Testing these arrangements in advance can expose gaps before they affect a live claim, giving MGAs greater visibility and insured organisations a clearer route to recovery.

Recovery is not only about reimbursing eligible costs or bringing systems back online. It should leave the organisation able to operate safely and respond more effectively to future incidents.

Once the immediate threat is contained, the investigation must identify what allowed the attack to succeed, such as weak access controls, unpatched systems, limited monitoring or gaps in internal processes. Those weaknesses should be addressed before normal operations fully resume.

Clear remedial actions, accountable owners and evidence of improvement can show senior leaders, MGAs and insurers that lessons have been acted upon. This supports future insurability by reducing the likelihood and potential severity of another claim.

As cybercriminals use AI to increase their speed and efficiency, organisations cannot afford to design their response after an incident has begun.

Cyber insurance provides financial protection, while incident response contains the threat, restores operations and helps address the weaknesses that created the exposure. The strongest outcomes occur when these functions are connected through clear authority, established communication and trusted response arrangements.

For MGAs, helping insured organisations prepare before a claim can improve control, visibility and customer outcomes throughout the incident lifecycle. It also creates a clearer route from initial containment to recovery and restored insurability.

When every second matters, access to the right incident response expertise can contain the threat, control claim costs and accelerate recovery.

For more information on how CyberOne helps MGAs reduce the financial and operational impact of cyber claims visit: https://cyberone.security/partners/mga