"Cyberattack — are companies ready for the big one? As data breaches and hacking schemes accumulate, U.S. companies are bombarded with Armageddon scenarios. They are urged to model and insure against more and more complex data losses. The latest is today’s news that Russian hackers have attacked J.P. Morgan Chase and four other banks. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is trying to determine if Russia is behind the cyber attack in retaliation for sanctions led by the U.S. An increasing number of attacks has created demand for comprehensive cyber-insurance products, and for insurance companies willing to commit capital to the risk of catastrophic cyber losses. Insurance companies have hurried to meet this demand. There is evidence, however, that what insurance markets regard as a catastrophic cyber loss may actually be a warm-up for the main event. Warnings of a cyber attack that shuts down not just a major retailer but whole industries have moved out of the realm of security experts. Recently, the federal government and some of the biggest companies in the nation have begun working in concert to identify, measure and protect against the mega-cyber loss — the one so big that it that impacts national security and causes the stock market to falter." Full Story: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cyberattack-are-companies-ready-for-the-big-one-2014-08-28
"Next major financial shock will be a cyber attack: global watchdog The next big financial crisis could be a keystroke away. Think of the Target attacks last year, and the pain that still resonates for that company and customers after hacking attacks that compromised the data of 110 million shoppers. The list of companies coming under cyber-attack grows longer by the day, and the attacks bolder. A Twitter user claimed responsibility for bringing down Sony PlayStation’s network over the weekend in a bid to overwhelm the system with “artificially high traffic,” an attack known as a distributed denial of services attack. That same group also hinted of a security threat to a flight carrying Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley. The flight was diverted and the FBI is investigating. The PlayStation Network is now back online, the company said in a blog statement. What investors don’t want to imagine is something similar happening to big financial players, or the big banks that hold their money. But that indeed is what will likely be the next big “black swan event,” according to a fresh warning from global watchdog, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (losco)." Full Story: http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetel...shock-will-be-a-cyber-attack-global-watchdog/
