Computer worms and viruses cost companies time and cleanup costs — and now higher insurance premiums. Many insurance companies — overwhelmed with hacking-related claims the past two years — have sliced hacking losses from general-liability policies, forcing companies to spend extra for “network risk insurance,” which costs about $5,000 to $30,000 a year for $1 million in coverage. “Insurers are delivering an ultimatum: Invest in stand-alone hacker policies or go unprotected,” says corporate attorney Bob Steinberg. That’s a dangerous proposition. Losses from computer crime are expected to soar 25% to $2.8 billion in the USA this year, says market researcher TruSecure. Successful Web-site attacks nearly doubled to 600 a day. Hacker insurance is expected to jump from a $100 million market today to $900 million by 2005, market researcher Gartner says. That may result in higher costs for consumers as the cost of doing business goes up. Full Story