The Flood Risk That Might Be Unaccounted For

Insurers might be unintentionally covering flood and fire risks arising from computer problems, a cyber expert with a risk modelling firm suggests. “Anything that is related to a computer system could trigger non-cyber losses,” Matt Honea, cyber director for Cyence Inc., said in an interview. Cyence is the analytics and data services unit of Guidewire Software Inc. Cyence and Aon recently examined the risk of a hacker opening flood gates at a hydroelectric dam in the United States — which could cause flooding to properties downstream, insured losses of $10 billion and total economic losses of up to US$56 billion. “We have an issue here,” Honea said of flood risk arising from an attack on a hydro dam.