Cyber risks are becoming increasingly prevalent and increasingly a source of potential liability, expense and lost income. As companies look to their insurance programs to mitigate these risks, they should consider the body of law resolving disputes over insurance coverage for data breaches and other types of costly cyber incidents. Judicial treatment of policy provisions continues to evolve, and while existing precedent decided on other lines of coverage may provide some guidance, courts have yet to interpret many key cyber insurance policy provisions. In this fast-moving environment, companies should work with their brokers and counsel to determine the best available policy forms to meet their cyber risk management needs.
In Connecticut and across the nation, the majority of court decisions addressing cyber losses primarily involve three separate lines of coverage: comprehensive general liability (“CGL”), crime/fidelity, and cyber insurance. These decisions provide a starting point for determining whether a particular cyber-related claim is covered by insurance.
