Zurich Re, And The Other Insurers Have All Paid Up, For The $1.4 Billion "NotPetya" Cyber-Attack Of 2017... Merck Wins.

We had long predicted the insurers would not escape liability by claiming it was an act of war exclusion from coverage. Businesses pay large sums, and insurers reap fat profits from blue chip, stable companies by selling "business interruption" insurance. Very few events that truly disrupt a multinational like Merck. . . ever occur. But when one does, it is usually for boxcar numbers, as our prior coverage indicated, at the time.

Then the insurers tried to keep the premiums, but not cover Merck's losses. Yikes. That wouldn't end well, we said.

And so, at every trial and appellate level since, in New Jersey state courts, Merck has prevailed in showing it had both fully paid its premiums, and thus had contractual "business interruption" coverage -- from the insurers -- for these malware infestations.Here's the latest, from FiercePharma, reporting:

. . .Merck has reportedly settled with insurance companies that contested the pharma giant’s $1.4 billion claim after it was victimized by a crippling cyberattack in 2017.

With the settlement—terms of which were not disclosed—the insurance companies avoided a ruling that would have provided a precedent for other cases involving insurance claims related to other state-led cyberattacks, Bloomberg Law reports.

Six Russian military intelligence officers were eventually charged by the United States in the “NotPetya” ransomware cyberattacks, which targeted accounting software developed by a Ukrainian company that was used by Merck and several other companies. Malware infected more than 40,000 computers in Merck’s global network. . . .

Now you know, and this is very good news for Merck.

In fair balance, though -- I'll have a new one in a moment -- on how reimportation, long a boogeyman out of Canada -- going back to the HRC (never enacted) health plan of 1994, and the early BHO ACA drafts of 2009-10. . . is finally becoming a reality, due in no small part to Merck's petulant suit against the feds. Do stay tuned -- around noon, in the east. Grin.

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