include the cost of insurance, the effect on customer behavior, litigation costs, fines and impact on technology infrastructure and R&D spending, according to Moody's. "Therefore, robust sources of liquidity remain a key mitigant," the report notes.

Notable Attacks

The report notes that the highest-profile cyber events - including a breach in November 2018 at Marriott International that exposed data of 383 million Starwood guests and a cyberattack on Equifax in September 2017 that compromised information of 143 million U.S, consumers - have yet to result in any material deterioration in the creditworthiness of the affected companies.

A cyberattack on Equifax in 2017 affected more than 143 million U.S. consumers.

"However, the frequency and magnitude of attacks could weaken the credit quality of the most exposed entities in the coming years," Moody's writes.

Sofar, Moody's has downgraded at least one company - Altegrity, Inc. in September 2014 - as the result of a data breach.

Alegrity, a global risk and information services firm, subsequently filed for bankruptcy in 2015. Its security background check subsidiary, U.S. Investigative Services, in 2014 suffered a breach that exposed personal information of more than 25,000 government contractors.

USIS also came under fire for its work that ultimately gave security clearances to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and Aaron Alexis, who fatally shot 12 people at the Naval Sea Systems Command at the Washington Navy Yard in September 2013.

Among other companies that Moody's cites in its report as being financially impacted by breaches and cyberattacks are FedEx and Merck & Co., which were among companies hit by the