US utilities looking into their cyber vulnerabilities

After the cyber-attack that affected electrical grids in Ukraine in December 2015, utilities in the US are looking more carefully into their cyber vulnerabilities, says Reuters. While assessing the loss that could be generated by an attack similar to the one in Ukraine, utilities are trying to determine whether their insurances cover cyber-attacks, and, if not, whether they need such insurances. A Lloyd’s and the University of Cambridge study cited by Reuters estimated that ‘simultaneous malware attacks on 50 generators in the Northeastern United States could cut power to as many as 93 million people, resulting in at least $243 billion in economic damage and $21 billion to $71 billion in insurance claims’.