While not everybody is yet entirely convinced the feds should provide a backstop to cyber insurers for catastrophic system-wide attacks, Politico reports the discussion is moving forward.
“But policymakers and executive branch officials have plenty left to iron out, said (RAND senior policy researcher Sasha) Romanosky (@SashaRomanosky), and they might opt for something far less ambitious than a highly qualified backstop — at least in the short term.”
The grand policy could include financial backstops such as an emergency fund, a la TRIA/TRIP, linked to minimum cybersecurity requirements for the insured.
One non-financial contribution by the government would please many (if not all the lawyers). By designating which attacks are “acts of war” for exclusion purposes, the government could forestall many court battles, said Bryan Cunningham, executive director of the Cybersecurity Research and Policy Institute at the University of California Irvine @denvercunning.
“’There’s momentum, there’s impetus behind creating something,’ he said. And if they want, lawmakers could always advance something simple now and ‘amend it later on.’”
Source: Can a federal backstop redeem cyber insurance?