Asian companies see little need for insurance against cyber attack, with less than 20pc insured

Companies in Asia lag behind those in the US in cyber insurance coverage, even as global awareness has been raised in the wake of cyberattacks such as ransomware WannaCry last year, according to FM Global, a mutual property insurer based in Rhode Island, New England.

Less than 20 per cent of companies in Asia are insured against cyberattacks, while around 66 per cent in the US have purchased protection, FM Global’s vice-president and manager of cyber risk insurance products Grace Ries said.

Cybersecurity complaints rose to a record high last year amid an 80 per cent rise in malware attacks, according to the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team (HKCERT), the city’s information security watchdog. It also warned that malware attacks such as WannaCry will continue to surge this year.

The ransomware which was detected in May affected more than 400,000 machines in 150 countries, including the UK’s National Healthcare System and Spain’s largest telecoms company Telefonica. WannaCry encrypts files on computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, making them impossible for users to access, then demands a ransom payment in bitcoin.

“Finding solutions [for cyberattacks] is still in a growth phase in Asia,” Ries said. “But awareness is on the rise.”

On Wednesday, Hong Kong Broadband Network, the city’s second largest fixed-line residential broadband service provider, said personal data of some 380,000 customers was compromised due to unauthorised access to its database. Information relating to around 40,000 credit cards may have been leaked, according to reports.