The world insurance market against cyber crime will hit $5 billion within three years, experts said yesterday.

And they predicted it would reach at least $7.5 billion within five years.

The news came in a report from professional services firm PwC at the Monte Carlo Reinsurance Rendez-vous.

PwC Bermuda managing director for insurance Matthew Britten said: “For the insurance industry, cyber risk is in many ways a risk like no other.

“It is equally a potentially huge, but still largely untapped, opportunity for insurers and reinsurers.

“There is no doubt that cyber insurance offers considerable opportunities for revenue growth — and for Bermuda reinsurers to demonstrate their ability to provide innovative solutions as awareness and demand for insurance coverage grows.”

The report said that insurers who want to succeed in the market had to base future offerings coverage on conditional regular risk assessments of clients operations and their actions in response to reviews.

And it added “a more informed approach” will allow insurers to reduce uncertain exposures but still offer clients the types of coverage and premium rates they wanted.