Head of Zurich: cyber attacks may no longer be insured

CEO of Swiss insurance company Zurich said in an interview Financial Timesthat cyber attacks may soon cease to be insured. Mario Greco justified his opinion by the fact that the damage from hacker attacks continues to grow and private insurance companies are no longer able to cover such costs.

“What if someone takes control of critical parts of our infrastructure, then what will be the consequences of this?” Mr. Greco said, recalling attacks by cybercriminals on hospitals, government offices and pipelines in recent years: “First of all, you need to understand that this is not just about data … it concerns the whole of civilization. These people can seriously disrupt our lives.”

As the FT notes, many insurance companies have already responded by raising prices to the increase in successful cyberattacks and the increase in financial losses from them. In addition, some insurers have made changes to their coverage policies. So, for example, Lloyd`s in September advocated the exclusion from the list of insured events of cyber attacks carried out with the support of states. The head of Zurich called on governments to “create public-private schemes to combat systemic cyber risks that cannot be quantified, similar to those that exist in some jurisdictions in the event of earthquakes or terrorist attacks.”

Kirill Sarkhanyants