We've all read or heard about the many data breaches and cyber “incidents” in the news, including Sony, the U.S. government's Office of Personnel Management, and several airlines. To put those data breaches—a more accurate term than cyber attacks—in perspective, Tim Francis, Enterprise Cyber Lead at Travelers, provided an overview of the threat landscape at a recent cyber media event in Washington, D.C. He explained that according to the Symantec Internet Security Report, there are 34,529 known computer security penetration incidents per day. Not all the incidents result in the theft of personally identifiable information but the huge numbers are troublesome.

The panel, moderated by Joan K. Woodward, president of Travelers Institute and executive vice president of public policy, also included

• Tom Finan, senior cybersecurity strategist and counsel, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Chris Hauser, 2nd vice president for cyber fraud at Travelers Investigative Services and former FBI agent responsible for cyber investigations
• John Mullen, a managing partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith and chair of its U.S. data privacy and network security practice
• Melanie Dougherty-Thomas, managing director of crisis communications management at Inform

The panelists agreed that small to mid-sized businesses are the most vulnerable, and one successful attack can shut those businesses down completely. But what types of claims are the most common and what do they really cost?

Travelers' cybersecurity experts have developed common cyber claims scenarios across five industries, as shown in the following pages. The costs add up quickly, often reaching more than $1 million.