New York Department of Financial Services Issues First-of-Its-Kind Cyber Insurance Risk Framework On February 4, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued Circular Letter No. 2, which introduced a Cyber Insurance Risk Framework directed to New York-regulated property/casualty insurers that outlines best practices for managing cyber insurance risk. The framework is the first-ever guidance by a U.S. regulator on cyber insurance. Background In its introduction to the framework, DFS noted that as cybercrime continues to increase for all organizations, cyber insurance is playing an increasingly important role in managing and reducing cyber risk. While cybercrime in general is on the rise, DFS reported that the “biggest driver” of the increase was the frequency and cost of ransomware attacks. According to a 2020 DFS survey, from early 2018 to late 2019 the number of insurance claims that arose from ransomware increased by 180%, and the average cost of a ransomware claim rose by 150% during that same period.