Merck $1.4 Billion Cyberhack Settlement Ends ‘Warlike’ Act Claim

Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. struck an 11th-hour settlement with insurers Wednesday, evading a New Jersey Supreme Court review of its massive cyberattack insurance dispute on the eve of an oral argument that could have set a national precedent impacting the booming cyber insurance market.

Three of Merck’s insurers filed stipulations with the justices Wednesday—just before the scheduled start of oral argument—notifying the court that argument was off in the insurers’ appeal of a state appellate court ruling that Merck was entitled to roughly $700 million in claims. That ruling found the insurers liable under “all risks” property insurance ...