Insuring the Uninsurable: Cyber Risk in High-Risk Industries

Some industries are so exposed to cyber threats that insurers are increasingly hesitant to cover them—or are raising premiums, tightening exclusions, or walking away altogether.

If you're in energy, finance, healthcare, legal, or manufacturing, you may have heard this phrase already:

“You’re uninsurable.”

But the truth is, most companies aren’t truly uninsurable—they’re just unprepared in the ways that matter most to underwriters.

At Bawn, we work with organizations in high-risk sectors to make their cyber programs not just technically sound, but insurable and defensible. Here’s what you need to know about navigating cyber liability coverage in challenging industries.

🔥 Why Some Industries Are Labeled “High Risk”

Insurers evaluate two things: likelihood of an incident and potential impact. Certain industries rank high on both:

• Finance & Fintech: Access to funds, sensitive client data, heavy regulatory scrutiny

• Healthcare: Rich personal data, legacy systems, life-threatening consequences

• Energy & Utilities: National infrastructure, operational disruption risks

• Manufacturing & OT: Limited segmentation, outdated systems, high downtime cost

• Legal & Professional Services: Confidential data, ransomware exposure, insider threats

These industries face frequent attacks—and the fallout is massive when things go wrong.

⚠️ Why Insurers Say “No” (or Price You Out)

Even if you’ve never had a breach, insurers may:

• Deny coverage outright

• Exclude ransomware or third-party incidents

• Require strict conditions you haven’t met

• Quote unaffordable premiums

Why? Because your application raised red flags—either due to missing controls, lack of documentation, or unclear risk visibility.

Some common issues that trigger rejections:

• No MFA across all endpoints

• Unpatched legacy systems

• No documented incident response plan

• Lack of cyber risk assessments

• Poor vendor management

• Incomplete or inaccurate disclosures

🛠️ What Makes a High-Risk Company Insurable Again

Insurers don’t expect perfection—but they do expect actionable risk management and defensible documentation. Here’s what we help high-risk organizations implement:

✅ 1. Core Control Enforcement

Not just installed—enforced and audited:

• MFA everywhere

• Endpoint detection & response (EDR)

• Secure, tested, and segmented backups

• Patch management with proof

• Email filtering and phishing protection

✅ 2. Written, Updated Security Documentation

Carriers want to see:

• A formal risk assessment

• A written information security program (WISP)

• An incident response plan

• Policy enforcement and versioning

✅ 3. Insurance-Aligned Disclosure Review

We help clients accurately complete applications and avoid costly mistakes:

• Clarify ambiguous language

• Align application answers with your actual environment

• Flag false confidence from your IT vendor

✅ 4. Proof of Risk Ownership

Underwriters favor companies that:

• Know their gaps

• Have a remediation roadmap

• Involve executives in oversight

• Can produce evidence on demand

🧠 What We’ve Learned from Both Sides

Bawn was founded by former FBI agents and seasoned CISOs who’ve worked both with victims of attacks and on the side of law enforcement and risk teams.

Our key takeaway?

The difference between “uninsurable” and “insurable” often comes down to how well a company documents, proves, and acts on their cybersecurity program.

🚨 Don’t Let the Market Decide for You

If you’ve been told you’re uninsurable—or faced a coverage denial—it doesn’t mean you’re out of options. It means it’s time to rebuild trust with underwriters and show them you take cyber risk seriously.

At Bawn, we specialize in helping high-risk organizations:

• Regain insurability

• Lower premiums

• Secure broader coverage

• Build programs that stand up to regulators and insurers alike

→ Let’s turn your “uninsurable” profile into a strong, defensible risk story. Book a complimentary Cyber Insurance Readiness Review with Bawn today.