The University of Calgary is urging other institutions to purchase cyber insurance, saying in their case, it has paid off.

Officials dissected a recent malware attack, the school's response — and the changes they've made — at a well-attended campus town hall Friday afternoon.

A town hall meeting at U of C Friday discussed issues like malware attacks and cyber insurance. (Colleen Underwood/CBC)

Linda Dalgetty, vice president of finance and services, says the school bought cyber insurance last year and although it didn't cover the $20,000 ransom the school paid, it was invaluable in other ways.

"In fact one of my messages coming out of this to my peers, both in Alberta and across Canada, is this is a good thing for you to have," Dalgetty said.

"And again not just becasue it's that monetary recovery, it's the value that we had from helping us going through a difficult time with this malware crisis."

She says the insurance came in handy hours after the school bought it.

Linda Dalgetty of the University of Calgary is urging other institutions to consider cyber insurance. (Supplied)

"It was quite interesting, we made the decision to buy it, it went live on I think a Friday morning at 12:01 a.m., and our first phishing attack was at 2 a.m. that day, so it was very coincidental," she explained.

Dalgetty says she only knows of two other major Canadian universities that have also invested in cyber insurance.