Jain's hypothetical seemed prescient when a quality control issue from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused a worldwide IT outage that halted flights and freight, shuttered retail outlets, and caused hospitals to resort to charting on paper.
"Insurers have been worried about something like what happened with CrowdStrike since cloud adoption happened," said Dale Gonzales, chief innovation officer at Axio, a cyber security risk analysis company.
Fitch estimates that the number of insured losses will not exceed $10 billion, ending somewhere in the mid- to high-single billions and that the industry largely priced those in.
The cybersecurity insurance market did get lucky, in some respects, with the CrowdStrike meltdown.
"Cyber events that have more of a physical consequence would be much bigger in size or scope in terms of losses," Glombicki said.
Persons:
Warren Buffett, Ajit Jain, Jain, CrowdStrike, Dale Gonzales, Gerald Glombicki, Fitch, Glombicki
Organizations:
Microsoft Corp, Fitch
Locations:
New Delhi, India, Berkshire, Fitch Rating's, Australia, Pacific Asia, U.S