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Axa looks at cyber attack insurance policy in UK | Axa looks at cyber attack insurance policy in UK |
(about 8 hours later) | |
Individuals afraid of cyber-attacks may soon be able to buy insurance that would allow them to clean up the damage caused by hackers. | |
The insurance company Axa is already offering such policies in France and is looking at devising a similar policy for the UK market. | |
Nicolas Moreau, a senior executive at the French insurance company, said the policy, which is sold as an add-on to house insurance, was intended to clean up private images posted online rather than hide information legitimately published. | Nicolas Moreau, a senior executive at the French insurance company, said the policy, which is sold as an add-on to house insurance, was intended to clean up private images posted online rather than hide information legitimately published. |
Speaking on the fringes of the Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum, where the risk of cyber-attack became a topic of debate, Moreau said: “If your reputation has been damaged, or your kids’ reputation, we have people to clean up the issue.” | |
The aim, he said, was not to remove news articles but private information made public. He gave the example of images of a teenage girl taken by her boyfriend. “We’re not looking at dictators trying to improve their reputations,” he said. | The aim, he said, was not to remove news articles but private information made public. He gave the example of images of a teenage girl taken by her boyfriend. “We’re not looking at dictators trying to improve their reputations,” he said. |
Moreau did not give a timescale for when such insurance might be available in the UK and said the company was looking at how best to develop it. | Moreau did not give a timescale for when such insurance might be available in the UK and said the company was looking at how best to develop it. |
He said cyber-attacks on infrastructure such as stock exchanges, the payments system or energy supplies “could be as effective as a bombing of a city”. | |
Axa, which hires hackers to test its own online security, sells insurance to companies to cover any liabilities they face as a result of a cyber-attack. | |
Moreau was making his first visit to Davos to discuss climate change, a major topic for debate among delegates after the former US vice-president Al Gore launched his 24-hour concert Live Earth to promote public awareness of climate change. |
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