More companies are turning to Cyber insurance to protectthemselves from the financial consequences of a data breach orcyber attack, as concern over the consequences of an assault grows,a new report from insurance broker Marsh says.

Based on figures in Marsh’s FINPRO practice, the broker says 33percent more clients opted for cyber-liability insurance in 2012compared to 2011.

All seven of the sectors Marsh measured showed increasedinterest in the coverage. Of the seven, services—which coversprofessional, business, legal, accounting and personal—andeducation led all others with a more than 70 percent increase incyber-liability purchases in 2012 compared to the year prior.Healthcare had the lowest increase at just over 20 percent.

Interest has climbed because buyers view cyber insurance as anessential component of their insurance portfolios in the wake of anumber of highly visible data breaches and hacking attacks, saysMarsh. For small- and mid-size entities concerned with the costs ofa data breach, insurance has become more affordable and coverageoffers more service options such as loss-prevention andbreach-response services. Underwriters have also simplified theirguidelines, making purchases easier.

Network Security and Privacy Practice Leader for Marsh, BobParisi, says just within the past two years educationalinstitutions have become cognizant of their exposure to cyberliability and are catching up to other institutions in terms ofcyber-insurance coverage.

As for the services sector, he believes the increase is acombination of carriers making it easier to purchase and making itmore affordable.With the interest in cyber insurance climbing lastyear, so too did the amount of total limits for all industries. Theaverage limit purchased was close to $17 million, up 20 percentfrom the prior year. Leading the seven sectors was communications,media and technology with $33 million in limits, up 26 percent. Forcompanies with revenues of more than $1 billion, the average totallimit rose 30 percent from 2011 to $28 million. Some organizationspurchased limits in excess of $150 million with one as high as $200million in 2012.

“It is a very personal decision,” says Parisi, noting thattypically the purchase is based on risk appetite and companyrevenue.