Businesses, insurers and governments must work harder to get on top of cyber threats, Swiss Re warns in its latest Sigma report.

Despite increasing awareness of the dangers, companies are not properly prepared for the consequences of attacks, the reinsurer says.

Cyber insurance is developing but the scale of cover is insufficient, and governments could do more to promote cyber resilience.

Swiss Re says the potential scale of some cyber losses, such as widespread disruption to critical infrastructure, may be too great for the private market to absorb.

“For such risks, there may be a case for a government-sponsored backstop… something akin to the state support for protection against catastrophic terrorism risks.”

See ANALYSIS