Zurich CEO: Cyber Attacks May Become ‘Uninsurable’

The Wealth Advisor | Tom Jowitt | Dec 28, 2022

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.

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• For the second year in a row, natural catastrophe-related claims are expected to top $100bn.  Amid growing concern among industry executives about large-scale cyber-attacks, Mario Greco, chief executive at insurer Zurich, one of Europe’s biggest insurance companies warned that cyber-attacks, rather than natural catastrophes, will become “uninsurable”.
  • “What will become uninsurable is going to be cyber,” he said. “What if someone takes control of vital parts of our infrastructure, the consequences of that?”
  • There is no doubt that the cyber threat landscape continues to grow, as insurance executives fret about the risks from pandemics and climate change, which test the insurance sector’s ability to provide suitable coverage.
  • Zurich’s Mario Greco praised the US government’s steps to discourage ransom payments. “If you curb the payment of ransoms, there will be fewer attacks,” he told the Financial Times.

• Spiralling cyber losses in recent years have prompted emergency measures by the insurance sector’s underwriters to limit their exposure. As well as pushing up prices, some insurers have responded by tweaking policies so clients bear more of the losses.
• Lloyd’s of London also defended its recent move to limit systemic risk from cyber attacks by requesting that insurance policies written in the market have an exemption for nation-state cyber-attacks.
  • He called on governments to “set up private-public schemes to handle systemic cyber risks that can’t be quantified, similar to those that exist in some jurisdictions for earthquakes or terror attacks”.

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Mario Greco, chief executive at insurer Zurich:  praised the US government’s steps to discourage ransom payments.

If you curb the payment of ransoms, there will be fewer attacks.

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