When analysts at Jefferies tipped cyber insurance as “a significant growth opportunity”, they could hardly have imagined the international chaos that hit 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices after the botched software update put out by Crowdstrike, the security company, last month.
In the event, Beazley was able to publish a chirpy assurance that the hiatus was not enough to alter its profits forecasts for this calendar year and the specialist insurer’s shares actually flipped up a few pence.
Indeed, the temporary meltdown was a useful free advert for the virtues of insuring against a recurrence, stimulating orders from spooked business owners. As the company’s website declares: “In the world of cyber threat, where rules don’t apply, we say Game On.” It certainly made no dent
