In an interview with Reinsurance News, Martin Kreuzer, Senior Risk Manager for Cyber Risks at Munich Re, emphasised that cyber warfare exceeds the company’s risk appetite, nonetheless, the firm is actively collaborating with governments to exchange ideas around solutions for potential catastrophic cyber war scenarios.
Kreuzer noted, “With the current wars that we see in the Middle East, in Europe, and in other parts of the world, cyber-attacks have become a very essential and very effective part of warfare.
“From this, we see concrete threats, particularly to critical infrastructure.”
The unpredictable accumulative nature and potential severity of such catastrophic cyber war scenarios underscore why cyber warfare falls outside insurer and reinsurer risk modelling capabilities, rendering it from Munich Re’s perspective uninsurable.
Kreuzer clarified, “This is why Munich Re is also actively and successfully advocating for clarity regarding cyber war exclusion through proper and fit for purpose clauses.”
Moreover, Kreuzer explained that Munich Re exchanges with governments worldwide, regarding the management of absolute catastrophic cyber scenarios.
He reiterated, “What’s very important from my view is that Munich Re is not talking about an insurance solution, but we’re actively offering our expertise to exchange with governments regarding potential protection for societies and economies as a whole.
“We are taking up that concern on a governmental level, not for business, not for growth, but to make our country and our societies more resilient.”
Expanding on this, Kreuzer explained that Munich Re is “actively engaged in the current discussions, that are gathering momentum since last year especially with the United States, when the Biden administration actively tasked two US agencies to evaluate the impact and the necessity of a governmental backstop for cyber cat events or cyber war scenarios.”
