The chief executive of one of Europe’s biggest insurance companies has warned that cyber attacks, rather than natural catastrophes, will become “uninsurable” as the disruption from hacks continues to grow.
The settlement last week in a $100 million lawsuit over whether insurance giant Zurich should cover losses Mondelez International suffered from NotPetya may very well reshape the entire cyber insurance marketplace.
Zurich initially denied claims from Mondelez after the malware, which experts estimate caused some $10 billion in damages globally, wreaked havoc on its computer networks. The insurance provider claimed an act of war exemption since it’s widely believed Russian military hackers unleashed NotPetya on a Ukrainian company before it spread around the world.
Lloyd’s of London will require its insurer groups globally to exclude catastrophic state-backed hacks from stand-alone cyber insurance policies starting next year.
Marsh analysis, insights, and ideas, regarding new cyber insurance policy exclusion language related to war, cyber war, cyber operations, and catastrophic risk.
Merck & Co.‘s victory in a legal dispute with insurers over coverage for $1.4 billion in losses from malware known as NotPetya is expected to force insurance policies to more clearly confront responsibility for the fallout from nation-state cyberattacks.
