Liberty International Underwriters (LIU) has launched a cyber extortion endorsement for its product recall and contamination policy for food and beverage companies.

The new endorsement provides coverage for cyber extortion monies and consultant costs up to the policy sublimit for acts against production and daily operations, according to a statement.

The endorsement also gives food and beverage policyholders pre-incident access to LIU’s crisis consultancy—red24—in order to facilitate development of a response plan.

“Many companies don’t realize…that cyber extortion is not always covered under a typical cyber policy or by a general liability policy,” said Jane McCarthy, LIU’s senior vice president of Global Crisis Management. “We developed this to address the risks associated with new technology and ransomware—malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. We are proud to be one of the first insurance markets offering this level of protection.”

Source: Liberty International Underwriters