Venerable insurer Lloyd’s of London says a global cyber attack on a major provider of cloud services could carry costs of up to $53 billion, reports Data Breach Today.
That’s a hefty price tag that explains the rising demand for cyber insurance. It also sheds light on why insurers are proceeding extremely carefully. The costs of a major data breach can be significant and difficult to predict.
To help define the level of exposure, Lloyd’s worked with cyber consultant Cyence to produce a new report that outlines the direct economic costs of two types of global cyber attacks and estimates the portion of the loss in each scenario that would covered by insurance. In the case of a cloud services attack, only 17 percent of the loss would be insured, Lloyd’s estimates. In the case of a global attack exploiting a software vulnerability, only 7 percent of the estimated loss of up to $28 billion would be assured.
Analysts estimate the cyber insurance market is worth up to $3.5 billion today and could grow to $7.5 billion by 2020.
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