Bermuda’s companies — whether global reinsurers or small businesses — are facing an intensifying cybersecurity threat and complacency is not an option.
As cyberattacks increase worldwide, the island’s wealth and concentration of high-value firms make it an appealing target for criminal groups seeking quick payouts.
The island’s global insurance sector, financial institutions, professional-services firms and even small retailers often hold sensitive data that criminals view as valuable leverage.
The major cyberattack that crippled Bermuda Government systems in September 2023 and caused disruption for weeks afterwards highlighted the potential dangers for the island.
In 2024, both the Lindo’s Group of Companies and Bermuda College revealed they had experienced “cyber incidents”. It is likely that many more Bermuda organisations have been targeted by hackers without going public.
In January this year, PowerSchool, a US education technology provider used by Bermuda’s public schools, reported that unauthorised access was obtained via compromised credentials. This attack highlighted how local organisations can be impacted by an attack on an overseas digital services provider.
Cybersecurity firm TotalAssure projects there will be nearly 293 million cyber incidents globally this year, up 22 per cent from 2024, based on the data it tracks. Some of this increase is attributed to hackers harnessing the power of AI to increase the volume and intensity of attacks.
Phishing e-mails, historically easier to spot, are now being crafted by AI models capable of mimicking writing styles, producing flawless grammar and generating personalised messages using publicly available information.
What once looked like a clumsy scam can now appear indistinguishable from internal corporate communication, making it far more likely that an employee will click on a malicious link or open an infected attachment.
TotalAssure also finds 79 per cent of successful attacks use no malware, gaining access to systems through legitimate credentials hackers often obtain by duping humans, traditionally viewed as a weak link in cybersecurity defences.
No matter how strong the firewalls that a company has in place, defences can be easily bypassed if staff, unaware of the dangers, click on a suspicious link or take the phishing bait. Hence the critical importance of training.
The Bermuda Government has moved to strengthen the island’s defences against cyberattacks, by enacting the Cybersecurity Act 2024, which tightens protections for critical national infrastructure.
The Ministry of National Security has also partnered with the International Telecommunication Union, an agency of the United Nations, to build the island’s protection and response framework against cyber threats, enabling the implementation of a national cybersecurity incident response team.
The result will be public access to “real-time threat information, awareness resources and incident reporting tools”, while also helping to equip the island with a threat intelligence platform to detect, analyse and protect against cyber threats, the Ministry has stated.
For 60 per cent of business leaders, cybersecurity is a top-three strategic priority, according to PwC’s 2026 Global Digital Trust survey of nearly 3,900 executives across 72 countries. The survey showed geopolitical risk has heightened concerns over the cyber threat. And it found many businesses are looking to use AI agents to bolster security in areas including the cloud, data protection, cyber defence and operations.
For businesses of all sizes, cybersecurity is increasingly viewed as less a purely technical issue delegated to the IT team and more a whole-organisation priority. Proactive businesses are deploying multi-factor authentication, strong password practices, encrypted backups and robust incident-response plans. Maintaining up-to-date software and applying patches in a timely fashion, is also essential to prevent hackers from exploiting known weaknesses.
As Bermuda continues to expand its high-tech economy, cybersecurity maturity must grow alongside it. The threat landscape is not standing still — and neither can Bermudian organisations.
