Ransomware represents a category of malware that denies access to systems or data through encryption, demanding ransom payment for decryption keys. Modern variants employ double extortion (threatening data publication), triple extortion (targeting customers/partners), and increasingly, quadruple extortion (distributed denial-of-service attacks).  Insurance coverage for ransomware includes: ransom payments (subject to legal clearance and insurer approval), negotiation services, forensic investigation, business interruption, data restoration, and legal/PR costs. Critical policy considerations include: legality of payments (sanctions screening required), proof of encryption (not mere deletion), validation of threat actor capability, and compliance with notification requirements.

Ransomware represents a category of malware that denies access to systems or data through encryption, demanding ransom payment for decryption keys. Modern variants employ double extortion (threatening data publication), triple extortion (targeting customers/partners), and increasingly, quadruple extortion (distributed denial-of-service attacks).  Insurance coverage for ransomware includes: ransom payments (subject to legal clearance and insurer approval), negotiation services, forensic investigation, business interruption, data restoration, and legal/PR costs. Critical policy considerations include: legality of payments (sanctions screening required), proof of encryption (not mere deletion), validation of threat actor capability, and compliance with notification requirements.