More companies are buying cyber insurance to protect their organisations from the financial consequences of a data breach or cyber attack, according to a new report by global broker Marsh.The report, titled “Benchmarking Trends: More Companies Purchasing Cyber Insurance” finds that the number of US companies buying insurance to protect against cyber attacks and data breaches jumped 33 percent in the last year making it one of the fastest growing lines of coverage.The report also finds companies are purchasing higher levels of cyber coverage. Cyber limits purchased in 2012 averaged $16.8 million across all industries — up 20 percent over 2011.With revelations of cyber attacks dominating the news in recent months, the Marsh report is the latest sign that corporate America is growing more concerned about the potential damages that can arise when companies lose control of customer information.The US Department of Energy, Twitter Inc. and several news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, have recently revealed attacks by hackers.Last week, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. came under a so-called "denial of service" attack making it the latest bank to suffer from an assault that increases the volume of website hits so that actual customers can't access the site.The Iranian government was thought to be behind an earlier series of attacks against US banks in recent months. Iran has denied any involvement with the attacks.Meantime, Army General Keith Alexander, head of the Defence Department's US Cyber Command last week told a Senate panel he was concerned cyber attacks would grow in the year ahead.Insurance companies and brokers have been trying to sell add-ons to standard commercial insurance policies to cover such risks for more than a decade, but have only gained traction with the product in recent years.“Awareness of cyber and privacy risks continue to grow, especially in the wake of a number of highly visible data breaches, hacking attacks, litigation, and increased government focus on cyber security,” said Bob Parisi, network security and privacy practice leader for Marsh. “As a result, companies are now looking to manage their day-to-day cyber risks in the same way they do more traditional risks — through the purchase of insurance.”According to the report, the services industry, which includes professional, business, legal, accounting, and personal services firms, experienced the largest uptick in the number of clients purchasing cyber insurance — a 76 percent jump over 2011.This was followed closely by the education sector, which experienced a 72 percent rise and financial institutions, which experienced a 32 percent riseOverall rates for cyber insurance were essentially flat in the fourth quarter of 2012, although market conditions varied significantly by company size, the report found.Smaller companies, where demand is great and competition among insurers is strong, typically paid less for cyber coverage than larger companies, which are experiencing more severe and frequent claims.The Marsh report mirrors findings from a survey conducted by American International Group Inc. (AIG) that found more corporate executives are concerned about cyber-attacks and data breaches than property damage and investment risk. The poll found 85 percent of the survey participants were very or somewhat concerned with cyber risks, compared with 80 percent who were concerned with property damage and 76 percent concerned about securities and investment risks.