Australia slow on the cyber insurance uptake

Despite an increasing number of insurers offering standalone cyber insurance in the local market, Australian businesses are generally yet to show any real appetite for obtaining cover against this important emerging risk. This is despite a number of recent events-which would almost certainly cause any business to consider the need for this type of cover-ranging from the recently well-publicised Petya and Wannacry breaches to the rapidly approaching mandatory notification provisions of the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act 2017 (Cth), which will come into effect in February 2018. A review of the market suggests there are a number of possible reasons for the hesitancy in purchasing standalone cyber insurance.