Cyber insurance sales triple in Japan

Three major non-life insurance companies saw sales of cyberattack policies more than triple to over 1,000 clients combined in fiscal 2016.

Demand for cyberattack insurance, which covers losses caused by damaged computer systems, is surging as cybersecurity concerns spread to small and midsize firms.

The Japan Network Security Association said the cyberattack insurance market is expected to grow to JPY15.6 billion in the year ending March 2018. Non-life insurers saw interest swell after a ransomware attack struck companies in at least 150 countries in mid-May, the Tokyo-based association said.

Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., which in February 2015 became the first Japanese insurer to launch a financial product for cyberattacks, saw new policyholders leap around threefold in the year ended in March.

New contracts for cyberattack insurance products offered by Sompo Japan Nipponkoa jumped fivefold in the six months to March compared with the same period a year ago.

MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. saw cyberattack insurance contracts surge about 3.7 times in the business year ended in March, stated a report in The Japan Times.