Apple, Cisco launch new cyber-insurance product

With cybercrime growing, Apple and Cisco are teaming up to create a new cyber-insurance product. Through insurer Allianz, the new offer will give companies access to a response team in the event they're being hacked, a personalized evaluation on protections they have in place, plus discounts that may include lower deductibles, to none at all.

To be eligible, companies must be using Cisco's Ransomware Defense service, and of course use Apple's products including iPhones, iPads and Macs. Apple announced the new offering today.

There's no question that cyber crime is a serious threat to companies and these incidents can be a disaster. Ransomware that locks a business out of their records can impact its ability to provide services to customers, and its bottom line. And those are the just the hacks that companies know about.

Consumers too are growing increasingly worried about the number of products in their home connected to the internet — and the threat these devices can pose to their privacy and information. That's not entirely unwarranted. And with IDC expecting more than 80 billion connected devices online by 2025 — access points into a home's data stream is expanding. Plus malware, from BlueBourne to Mirai, have appeared in recent years that target smart home devices specifically.

Apple products too aren't invulnerable. Just last year, the company had to issue an emergency software patch for the High Sierra operating system, after a root error was found that allowed anyone to get administrator control of a Mac in seconds.

The new cyber-insurance from Apple and Cisco, however, is specifically focused on businesses — likely the only customers able to afford a policy such as the one offered.