Global insurance company Lloyd’s has released its City Risk Index 2015-2025, which analyses the potential economic loss in cities around the world from 18 threats over the next ten years.
According to the report, Australian cities Sydney and Melbourne rank 12th and 15th in the world respectively for threat of cyber attack, with the entire nation at risk of losing $16 billion.
Sydney stands to lose $4.86 billion and Melbourne is at risk of losing $3.87 billion.
On a global scale, New York tops the rankings, with $14.08 billion to lose.
The world’s top 20 cities at threat of cyber attack:
- New York: $14.08bn
- Los Angeles: $10.79bn
- Sao Paulo: $9.13bn
- Paris: $8.93bn
- London: $7.89bn
- Osaka: $7.57bn
- Moscow: $6.86bn
- Chicago: $6.71bn
- Tokyo: $6.09bn
- San Francisco: $5.90bn
- Taipei: $5.14bn
- Sydney: $4.86bn
- Washington, DC: $4.51bn
- Houston: $4.29bn
- Melbourne: $3.87bn
- Rio de Janeiro: $3.69bn
- Madrid: $3.54bn
- Toronto: $3.52bn
- Singapore: $3.41bn
- Miami: $3.26bn
As can be seen from the rankings, the US is by far the most at threat, with eight cities in the top 20. Japan and Australia follow with two cities each in the top 20.
The world as a whole stands to lose $294 billion, according to Lloyd’s.
“With the emergence of the Internet of Things, the potential for cyber risk is enormous,” said Lloyd’s global chief Inga Beale in a comment to the ABC.
“The latest series of high-profile data breaches is just the beginning.”
Lloyd’s said the demand for cyber insurance in Australia has increased by 16,828 per cent in the past two years as businesses deal with increased threat.
The risk index report features a number of other threats: drought; earthquake; flood; freeze; heatwave; human pandemic; market crash; nuclear accident; oil price shock; plant epidemic; power outage; solar storm; sovereign default; terrorism; tsunami; volcano and wind storm.
Australia’s biggest threat is a market crash, with the nation being at risk of losing approximately $40 billion. This is followed by cyber attack.