While Marsh claims that they have seen an increase in clients purchasing cyber insurance, The American Enterprise Institute claims that the market still remains largely untapped.
Many companies are hesitant to purchase cyber insurance because there is a lack of sufficient understanding of the true risks. Insurers also have difficulties with a lack of complete actuarial data to quantify the risks. Losses after a cyber-attack cannot always be compensated with monetary reparations, but must still be calculated into the over loss exposure. These losses are referred to as “intangible losses” such as the destruction of a company’s reputation or lost business. Despite these challenges, as cyber-attacks increase in number, we can expect the industry to evolve in response.