With all the hacking that’s compromised companies’ data in recent months, breaches have become a security issue that’s resulted in profit potential loss and declines in revenue.  Any good businessman would know to have insurance policies against such disastrous events, but even that can get tricky when hacks as big as those Sony experienced come into question.

Zurich American Insurance Co, one of Sony Corp’s insurers, asked a New York state court in documents filed late on Wednesday to rule that it does not have to defend or indemnify Sony against any claims, asserted in the class-action lawsuits, miscellaneous claims, or potential future actions instituted by any state attorney.

Zurich American, a unit of Zurich Financial Services, also sued units of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, AIG and ACE Ltd, asking the court to explain their responsibilities under numerous insurance policies they had written for Sony.

In April, hackers gain access to personal data for more than 100 million users of Sony’s online video games. Sony has said it could not rule out that some 12.3 million credit card numbers had been obtained during the hacking.  In May, Sony said it was approaching its insurers to help pay for its massive data breach.

“In April, we faced a serious challenge in the form of a cyber attack launched against the PlayStation Network, Qriocity and the network systems of Sony Online Entertainment,” said Howard Stringer, Sony chairman and president at a meeting in Tokyo attended by about 5,900 shareholders.

“We are sorry for any concern and inconvenience that the incidents may have caused our shareholders, customers and stakeholders.”

Sony expects the hacking to drag down operating profit by 14 billion yen ($178 million) in the current financial year, including costs for boosting security measures.  “Cyberinsurance” has become one of the hottest topics in the insurance industry this year. Brokers say demand has soared for policies to cover hundreds of millions of dollars in potential data breach losses.

Whether it’s a devoted IT company, a gaming giant or a global news organization, no one is quite safe from cyber-attacks and data breaches. Consumers, on the other hand, should be able to understand the basics on how to safeguard their own gadgets and information.

It’s been quite a summer for hackers, and consumers are reminded of the costs of poor security and weak networks.  As more of our data moves to the cloud and we rely more on connected devices as portals to access that information, we must also keep security in mind.  It seems to have all started with the Sony network hack, which we reminisce on with this infographic.