|
 Merck, however, has not disclosed the magnitude of its uninsured
losses from the "NotPetya" attack, which disrupted production of
some Merck medicines and vaccines.
The company was among dozens of firms worldwide hit in the June 27
attack, which began in Ukraine, then rapidly spread through
corporate networks of multinationals with operations or suppliers in
Eastern Europe.
"Merck has not yet fully quantified its losses, much less given any
of its insurers an estimate of the total amount of those losses,"
Merck spokeswoman Claire Gillespie said in a statement.
She reiterated that Merck has insurance that would cover some costs,
but declined to elaborate or say how much Merck expects to have to
pay on its own.
The drugmaker said in July that it had suffered a worldwide
disruption of its operations as a result of the malware. It was
still in the process of restoring its manufacturing operations a
month later.
Merck said then that it was confident it would be able to maintain a
continuous supply of its top-selling and life-saving drugs, but
warned of temporary delays in delivering some other products.
NotPetya is a destructive virus that spread quickly across computer
networks, crippling computers by encrypting hard drives so that
machines cannot run. The attacks caused massive disruptions to
industrial networks that rely on computers because businesses must
individually replace damaged drives, a labor-intensive process.
[to top of second column] |
Cyber insurance can be expensive to buy and is not widely used
outside the United States, with one insurer previously describing
the cost as $100,000 for $10 million in data breach insurance.
Policies typically cover expenses stemming from a data breach, such
as forensics and data restoration, among other costs. Coverage also
helps pay for business interruption expenses when a breach or
malware attack shuts down a company's website.
Some companies without cyber insurance have used their policies
covering kidnap, ransom and extortion to recoup losses caused by
ransomware viruses.
PCS provides estimates on a wide variety of insured losses, ranging
from damages caused by hacks to hurricanes and wildfires.
(Reporting by Michael Erman in New York and Noor Zainab Hussain in
Bengaluru, additional reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; editing by Jim
Finkle and G Crosse)
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