Ransomware Needs ‘Physical’ Damage For Insurance, Ohio Court Rules

Owners Insurance Co. convinced the Ohio Supreme Court that it has no duty to cover a medical software company’s ransomware-related losses because the attack didn’t cause any property damage.

EMOI Services LLC’s insurance policy “requires direct physical loss of or damage to media—Computer software cannot experience direct physical loss or physical damage, because it does not have a physical existence,” Justice Melody Stewart of the Ohio Supreme Court said Tuesday, reversing a state appeals court’s decision.

The ruling weighs in on a question within the insurance industry over whether cyber losses, like damage to a computer software, can be covered ...