Towards an economic cyber loss index for parametric cover based on IT security indicator: A preliminary analysis

Abstract

As cyber events have virtually no geographical limitations and can result in economic losses on a global scale, the assessment of return periods for such economic losses is currently debated among experts. The potential accumulation of consequential insurance losses due to intrusions or viruses is one of the major reasons why the (re-)insurance industry has limited risk appetite for cyber related risks. In order to increase the risk appetite for cyber risk and based on a first batch of data provided by Symantec, the goal of this article is to: Check if IT activity, i.e., the number of virus or intrusions being blocked by Norton on end-user computers could be used as an index for parametric covers that reinsurance companies could propose to their cedants; Look into the correlations of this IT activity across different regions, thereby confirming the absence of geographical limitations for cyber risk, and hence confirming the systemic nature of this risk. This first study on the Symantec dataset shows that a cyber index based on IT activity could be a useful tool to design parametric reinsurance product.