MS Exchange cyberattack could release a deluge of claims

Companies in North America face the greatest risk exposures from the attacks, according to the cyber analytics specialist, as U.S. organizations are more likely to be using the affected Microsoft servers. (Credit: Oleksii/stock.adobe.com)

The insurance and reinsurance industries are likely to see a “long-tail of attritional claims” stemming from a series of cyberattacks on MS Exchange, Microsoft’s best-selling email service, according to cyber analytics firm CyberCube. The associated claims are likely to focus on legal, forensic and clean-up costs.

The attacks, which are thought to stem from Chinese state-sponsored hackers, exploit vulnerabilities on Exchange servers with the intent of placing malicious code. The codes can then be used in ransomware schemes, espionage or even to take over a system’s resources to mine for cryptocurrency, CyberCube reported. Researchers believe that 10 “advanced persistent threat actors” globally are now actively exploiting the code used in this attack.