I think ASOS’s statement that it holds cyber cover should leave an insurance buyer asking for the outcome, rather than assuming it. I disagree with the hypothetical buyer who treats confirmation of cover as sufficient reassurance. The useful test is what the protection delivers when the effect on trading becomes clear.
Our published brief reports that an attacker obtained an ASOS employee’s login details through impersonation. ASOS says its cyber cover includes business continuity protection. It also says it is too early to quantify any effect on trading. Those statements establish the cover the company says it holds and the uncertainty it reports. They do not establish a claim payment.
The strongest case against my view is that this asks too much of an early statement. A company cannot sensibly quantify an effect it does not yet know. Confirmation of business continuity protection is useful information, even without a loss figure. I agree. ASOS’s qualification deserves to remain attached to its statement, and I am not arguing that it should supply an estimate before it can support one.
My objection is to the conclusion a reader might draw from the existence of cover. In my view, buying protection and demonstrating its result are separate tests. We should keep the eventual trading effect and insurance outcome in view, without assuming either a successful claim or a shortfall.
The same discipline applies to H&M. It is investigating claims that it was also targeted, but says it has found no sign that its data environment was compromised. That is no basis for declaring a breach. My position is simple: acknowledge the stated protection, preserve the uncertainty, and judge the insurance outcome when there is evidence of it.
What this draws on
H&M says it is investigating hacking claims as retail cyber risks spread
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