Next global cyberattack could cost insurers billions

Cyber crime insurers largely avoided costly claims from the recent attacks that hit businesses around the globe but the next global virus could change that, a leading global insurer has warned.

“It’s exceptionally likely we will see an event over the next months that will seriously affect insurers.

It would only need a combination of WannaCry’s wide reach and Petya’s destructive force to cost cyber insurers something like $2.5bn (€2.2bn), or a full year of gross premium income in the market,” Graeme Newman, chief innovation officer at CFC Underwriting, said.