Allianz China General Insurance launched an insurance policy to enable businesses to protect themselves comprehensively against online risks on Wednesday.

The Allianz Cyber Protect insurance solution covers a variety of first and third-party damage sustained by businesses if they become victims of cyber crime or if their customers hold them liable. The products are supported with expertise from Allianz Global Corporate and Specialties (AGCS).

The increased frequency and severity of cyber crime in several of Asia's tiger economies has dominated headlines in recent months. Statistics from the International Data Corporatation (IDC) indicate that the impact of cybercrime includes the impact of hundreds of millions of people having their personal information stolen. In 2014, more than 20 million people in China were affected.

The annual cost to the global economy from cybercrime is more than $400 billion. Notably, cyber crime losses from the four largest economies in the world (US, China, Japan and Germany) reached $200 billion in 2014, according to IDC.

Companies confronted with a cyber attack also face business interruption that can have severe financial implications as well as damage to their reputation.

According to the Allianz Risk Barometer 2015 published in January, cyber risks are on the rise and advanced to number 5 among the Top 10 Risks compared to number 8 in 2014.

In view of this, Allianz China General Insurance is convinced that cyber insurance will become commonplace in major international and Asian companies over the coming years.

"Combining P&C, liability and pure financial loss insurance components, our new cyber insurance policy offers comprehensive protection against growing Internet threats. Our aim was to develop a transparent insurance product that is easy to take out and to adapt to the needs of a specific company", explains Patrick Zeng, Head of Corporate & Specialty, Allianz China General Insurance.

Allianz Cyber Protect provides a comprehensive suite of three insurance products to address various first and third party liability issues that can arise from a serious cyber attacks or data breaches and coverage can be up to EUR 50 million.