China cyber insurance

Market overview and outlook

• The global cyber insurance market is maintaining solid growth momentum and we estimate that global premiums will grow to USD 5.5 billion in 2020.
• Compared to other commercial insurance lines, cyber is relatively less affected by the outbreak of COVID-19. However, cyber risks to corporates have increased significantly alongside adoption of digital working during COVID-19 lockdowns.
• China has made progress on establishing a legal framework for personal information protection. The Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China lays the ground for civil claims for infringements of privacy and personal information.
• In China, businesses’ cyber risk awareness is increasing rapidly and demand for cyber insurance solutions is also growing. Industry stakeholders have been active in preparing to launch new cyber insurance products.
• We expect government directives and regulation to play a key role in promoting the development of China’s cyber insurance market. Given the changing risk landscape, insurers are likely to review their cyber insurance coverage and terms and conditions in China in the next renewal season.

• Malicious cyber activities and cybercrimes have increased significantly since the outbreak of COVID-19 as more distributed working, often with decreased security oversight and support, have exacerbated an already rapid growth in malware and random attacks globally. There have been reported increases in in phishing attacks of 500%–600% this year in the UK and the US.
• However, common cyber-attacks on corporates have reduced and consequently losses from related business interruption have declined.
• While leading domestic property insurance companies are actively seeking partnership with industry stakeholders and third-party administrators (TPA), it is important to set up a selection requirement to identify suitable partners and implement the claims handling process.