An explosion in cybercrime could hit Bermuda-based insurance firms, experts have warned.And they urged companies to make sure their insurance policies covered the risk of computer-based attacks on their networks.And US lawyer Jennifer Quinn Broda said companies hit by hackers could also face class actions in court for large-scale data breaches.Ms Quinn Broda, from Sedgwick’s Chicago office, said: “There are definitely some institutions at more risk than others — these include Government entities, public utilities, financial institutions and large publicly-owned corporations.”And she added that retailers, healthcare companies and information technology firms could also be tempting targets for cyber criminals.Ms Quinn Broda said: “There are organised groups, the Russian and Sicilian Mafia, eastern bloc gangs, who get most of their income from that.”She added that politically-motivated “hacktivists”, mostly from western Europe and North America, had also sabotaged computer systems to disrupt companies and damage their reputations — which hit stock prices.And she added that countries like Iran, Syria and China were prime suspects for organising state-sponsored hacking of computer networks in other nations.Ms Quinn Broda was speaking at a conference on hot topics for the Bermuda insurance market, organised by island legal firm Sedgwick Chudleigh, which is affiliated to the international Sedgwick law firm, a specialist in professional services and insurance industry law.Alex Potts, of Sedgwick Chudleigh, said afterwards: “The predictions are that cybercrime liability in the US will grow very significantly going forward.“The industry here is interested in cybercrime in two ways — they don’t want to be exposed to to an unanticipated liability and there is an interest in those insured having good systems and insurance in place to protect themselves.”Mr Potts added that general liability insurance policies often excluded cybercrime — and that firms that could be vulnerable to computer-based crime should make sure they are specifically covered against it.And he said that firms have to report any breaches of their networks — and that the cost of monitoring subsequent transactions for fraud and the expense of setting up call centres to deal with calls from worried customers could be huge.He said: “What the insurers are saying is that you have to be prepared for this and buy insurance to cover yourselves for this liability.”During her presentation at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, Ms Quinn Broda said that the Royal Bank of Scotland’s WorldPay payment processing company had been looted of $9 million in a single day in 2008 after its network was breached in an attack masterminded by four Russian nationals.The four — who were subsequently caught — compromised the personal and financial details of around 1.5 million customers.