London, UK - 19 September 2003, 16:30 GMT - Whether you are a home user of software, a corporation or a government department, we would like to hear your views in confidence on "The Question of Software Liability."

When you as an individual customer or as an organisation with many personnel receive malware with an infected email or a worm exploiting vulnerabilities in deployed software and you end up having to shut your online servers or user computers down on a working day, who do you feel should pick up the liability for that business interruption?

In turn, when your organisation infects its suppliers and customers, who do you feel is responsible for picking up that business interruption liability?

The mi2g Intelligence Unit is looking at some of these liability issues within the context of normal business interruption, workers compensation and property & liability insurance policies. At present, we have found that there are clauses which have been inserted that exclude digital risk from malware and hackers to safeguard the interests of the larger insurers and reinsurers.

As the costs of the top ten malware - viruses and worms - continue to mount and now exceed US $72 billion in terms of lost productivity as measured by SIPS-EVEDA, it is only a matter of time that the questions of liability will surface between different individuals and organisations.

As entities that have suffered business interruption find it difficult to get a claim fulfilled by insurance companies due to exclusions on digital risk, the next step will be to litigate the most appropriate cash rich entity available to claim appropriate recompense. What do you think?

In this situation, it is only a matter of time that the eyes of victims will eventually turn on the software vendors. This has happened in the case of asbestosis, cigarette smoke inhalation, tyre and car manufacturers, cosmetics and food manufacturers as well as clothes and furniture manufacturers. How long do you feel that software vendors and developers can be immune to such high liability claims?

mi2g seeks your confidential opinion on this issue and please let us have your views by 15th October 2003 by clicking here. We will offer every contributor a free copy of our findings in the first week of November 2003.

[ENDS]

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