Cyber Insurance for Australian businesses
Cyber attacks are a constant threat to Australian businesses: the ACSC's Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024-25 recorded a cybercrime report every six minutes on average. A well-structured cyber policy can cover your first-party losses, third-party liability and the 24/7 incident response you need when every hour counts.
First-party losses and third-party liability
Cyber insurance covers two kinds of loss: what the attack costs your business directly, and what it costs the third parties whose data you were holding.
Ransomware that landed on a Friday night
An illustrative example of how Ardent can make the difference in a time of need.
A finance mailbox was compromised and ransomware moved through the file server over a weekend. By Monday the business could not invoice and the most recent backup was a week old.
We triggered the policy's incident response panel within the hour, which put forensic people on the systems that night. We ran the insurer notification so the client's staff stayed on the recovery.
Systems were restored from clean backups inside a week. The policy funded the forensic work, the legal advice on notification, and the income lost while ordering stopped.
This is an illustrative example. Every claim is assessed by the insurer on its own facts and under the terms of the policy.
Our Cyber Insurance experts
QPIB · Dip. Fin. Serv. (Ins Broking) · ANZIIF (Snr Assoc) CIP
The jewellery trade, childcare and commercial risks
Sarah co-founded Ardent and has more than 30 years in insurance in the UK and Australia, across commercial, property and casualty, professional risks and claims, with a focus on the jewellery trade and childcare. She works with each client to solve problems, plan ahead and see a claim through smoothly.
QPIB · Dip. Fin. Serv. (Ins Broking) · Dip. Integrated Risk Management · ANZIIF (Snr Assoc) CIP
Risk management and program design
Stephen co-founded Ardent and has 17 years in insurance, with clients from sole traders to multinational corporates. He works through the risks a business faces and helps decide what to avoid, reduce, retain or insure, balancing cover against cost. He has served on the committee of NIBA's NSW Mentoring Program.
Cyber, property, motor fleet and technology
Kye has two and a half years in insurance broking, after working in retail management, and is studying for his diploma in insurance broking. He looks after a general book of clients, with a focus on cyber, property, motor fleet and technology. Clients find him thorough, efficient and understanding.
What a client says about Ardent
Stephen from Ardent made switching our insurance incredibly easy. He took the time to understand our needs and guided us through every step with clarity and care. We really appreciated his responsiveness and professionalism—would happily recommend.
Cyber Insurance FAQ
Many do. The ACSC's Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024-25 put the average self-reported cost of cybercrime for an Australian small business at $56,600 per report, up 14% on the year before, and that is before reputation damage and customer loss. Cyber insurance can provide financial protection and access to specialist incident response teams that many SMEs could not otherwise afford.
Yes. Most modern cyber policies cover ransomware, including the ransom payment itself where the law allows it, specialist negotiators, data recovery and business interruption during downtime. Coverage conditions vary between policies, and some require you to have basic security controls in place (multi-factor authentication, regular backups, patched systems). Ardent reviews these requirements upfront and advises on any controls you need to put in place so that cover is valid when you need it.
Yes. Cloud providers protect their infrastructure, not your data or your business. If you experience a breach through a phishing attack on one of your employees, a misconfigured access permission, or a compromised vendor who has access to your systems, your cloud provider's security is irrelevant. A cyber policy can cover the investigation, response, notification and recovery costs wherever the breach started, subject to its terms.
Common exclusions include: intentional acts by insured parties; war or state-sponsored cyber attacks (though this is evolving); pre-existing known vulnerabilities that were not patched; and losses stemming from failure to maintain basic agreed security standards. Bodily injury or property damage resulting from a cyber event is typically excluded from a cyber policy but may be picked up by other policies. Ardent maps your full insurance program to identify any gaps.
Speed is one of cyber insurance's most valuable features. Most quality cyber policies include a 24/7 incident response hotline. The moment you discover a breach, you can call your insurer's specialist response team, who will engage forensic investigators, legal counsel and PR specialists on your behalf. This response is typically available immediately, before you formally lodge a claim. Acting quickly matters: containment in the first hours limits the total loss.
Some business pack policies include a cyber section, but the cover is usually minimal, often capped at $25,000 to $50,000 and limited to first-party data recovery only. That may not be enough for a serious cyber incident, which can cost six figures or more. Standalone cyber policies provide broader coverage, higher limits and incident response capability. Ardent reviews what you already have and identifies whether a standalone policy is warranted for your exposure level.