Does cyber insurance cover ransomware and business interruption in Georgia?

Yes, when the policy includes those coverages. Ransomware is malicious software that locks or encrypts a business's files and systems until a ransom is paid to the attacker. Business interruption, in a cyber policy, refers to the income a business loses while its systems are down and it cannot operate normally. Neither coverage is automatic just because a business has a cyber liability insurance policy; both depend on what the specific policy includes.

Cyber policies commonly include ransom response coverage, which can pay for negotiating with the attacker, the ransom payment itself where legally permitted, and the forensic work to restore systems afterward. Ransom payments to certain sanctioned individuals or organizations are not legally payable regardless of what a policy says, which is why policies typically condition coverage on the payment being legally permitted at the time. Business interruption coverage in a cyber policy pays for the income lost during system downtime, calculated against what the business would have earned had the systems stayed up, often after a waiting period before the coverage starts.

For example, an Augusta e-commerce retailer is hit with ransomware that encrypts the order management system, halting online sales for six days while the retailer works with a forensic firm to restore from backups instead of paying the ransom. A cyber policy with business interruption coverage would typically calculate and pay for the lost sales income during those six days, and would also typically cover the forensic restoration costs, subject to the policy's limits, sublimits, and waiting period. A policy without business interruption coverage, or with ransomware carved out, would not pay for either.

Coverage terms vary by carrier and by policy, including ransomware sublimits, waiting periods for business interruption, and whether an attacker's ransom demand for cryptocurrency triggers any additional exclusions. The specifics depend on the policy a Georgia business buys, not on a single industry standard. How fast must a Georgia insurer respond to a cyber claim? covers the claim timeline once an incident like this is reported, and how much does cyber liability insurance cost for a Georgia small business? covers how ransomware and business interruption coverage affect premium. The Georgia cyber liability insurance page has more detail on policy structure, and a coverage review is where a specific business can see what its own ransomware and business interruption sublimits actually are.