XL unveils new cyber risks policy

XL Insurance has launched XL Eclipse - a cyber risks solution designed for European businesses.

XL Eclipse will offer cyber liability coverage, including costs associated with mandatory data breach notifications to customers and authorities, and civil regulatory fines and penalties.

The policy also offers first party cover for IT forensics, business interruption, extortion threat, credit monitoring and the costs of public relations specialists to manage reputational fallout following a data breach.

The XL EclipsePro solution incorporates technology errors & omissions to address their professional liabilities. This coverage also meets the needs of electronic communication service providers facing increased legal exposures resulting from the European Commissions recently amended ePrivacy Directive.

Dawn Simmons, senior underwriter professional lines at XL Insurance, said: "The combination of more sophisticated criminals and stricter data breach laws results in companies facing increasing financial and reputational exposures. The average cost of a data breach in Europe in 2010 was approximately £1.9 million and we expect that number to rise in the future.

"In the light of stricter laws being implemented throughout Europe, companies from all sectors need to protect themselves against the soaring costs associated with hacker attacks, lost data or human error. Our incident response coverage also helps them limit their reputational damage following such events. "