Lloyd’s of London and risk-modeling firm Cyence examined potential economic losses from the hypothetical hacking of a cloud service provider and cyber attacks on computer operating systems.
LONDON – A major, global cyber attack could trigger an average of $53 billion of economic losses, a figure on par with a catastrophic natural disaster such as US Superstorm Sandy in 2012, Lloyd’s of London said in a report on Monday.
The report, co-written with risk-modeling firm Cyence, examined potential economic losses from the hypothetical hacking of a cloud service provider and cyber attacks on computer operating systems run by businesses worldwide.
Insurers are struggling to estimate their potential exposure to cyber-related losses amid mounting cyber risks and interest in cyber insurance. A lack of historical data on which insurers can base assumptions is a key challenge.
“Because cyber is virtual, it is such a difficult task to understand how it will accumulate in a big event,” Lloyd’s of London chief executive Inga Beale told Reuters.
Economic costs in the hypothetical cloud provider attack dwarf the $8 billion global cost of the WannaCry ransomware attack in May, which spread to more than 100 countries, according to Cyence.
Economic costs typically include business interruptions and computer repairs.
The Lloyd’s report follows a US government warning to industrial firms about a hacking campaign targeting the nuclear and energy sectors.
In June, an attack of a virus dubbed NotPetya spread from infections in Ukraine to businesses around the globe. It encrypted data on infected machines, rendering them inoperable and disrupted activity at ports, law firms and factories.
