Insured losses from CrowdStrike outage could reach $1.5bn
25 July 2024 - 13:31
byCarolyn Cohn
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A traveller uses her mobile phone to photograph a departures board displaying blue error screens at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, US, on July 19 2024. Picture: REUTERS/Bing Guan
London — Global insured losses from last week's huge IT outage are likely to range from $400m to $1.5bn, cyber analytics firm CyberCube says.
A software bug in cyber security firm CrowdStrike's quality-control system caused the software update that crashed computers globally, the US firm said this week, as losses mount after disruption to services from aviation to banking.
The outage could be the single largest cyber insurance loss, CyberCube said in a statement.
It was “a major event for the cyber insurance market but does not come close to the destructive potential that leading insurers are holding capital against”, CyberCube said.
Insurer Parametrix this week estimated insured losses from the outage of $540m to $1.08bn for Fortune 500 companies, excluding Microsoft, whose computer software was affected by the CrowdStrike bug.
Cyber insurer Beazley said this week it had no plans to change its guidance on its combined ratio — a measure of underwriting profitability — after the outage.
The global insurance and reinsurance industry was likely to avoid any major financial impact from the outage, ratings agency Fitch said. However, reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter said that insurers could face claims on directors and officers’ and property insurance as a result of the outage, in addition to cyber insurance claims.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Insured losses from CrowdStrike outage could reach $1.5bn
London — Global insured losses from last week's huge IT outage are likely to range from $400m to $1.5bn, cyber analytics firm CyberCube says.
A software bug in cyber security firm CrowdStrike's quality-control system caused the software update that crashed computers globally, the US firm said this week, as losses mount after disruption to services from aviation to banking.
The outage could be the single largest cyber insurance loss, CyberCube said in a statement.
It was “a major event for the cyber insurance market but does not come close to the destructive potential that leading insurers are holding capital against”, CyberCube said.
Insurer Parametrix this week estimated insured losses from the outage of $540m to $1.08bn for Fortune 500 companies, excluding Microsoft, whose computer software was affected by the CrowdStrike bug.
Cyber insurer Beazley said this week it had no plans to change its guidance on its combined ratio — a measure of underwriting profitability — after the outage.
The global insurance and reinsurance industry was likely to avoid any major financial impact from the outage, ratings agency Fitch said. However, reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter said that insurers could face claims on directors and officers’ and property insurance as a result of the outage, in addition to cyber insurance claims.
Reuters
KATE THOMPSON DAVY: CrowdStrike outage is a boon for the anti-concentration cause
JOHAN STEYN: CrowdStrike’s flawed update exposed global tech vulnerabilities
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