Only a quarter of Australian farmers are considering cyber insurance as a future need, despite around 80% of farms now using some form of agri-tech, according to new research from WFI Insurance.
The figure sits well below the broader business population, where 70% are considering cyber insurance, suggesting a gap between the sector’s growing reliance on digital technology and how cyber risk is being managed.
The findings were discussed in WFI’s latest Good People to Know podcast, which looked at how increased digitisation is changing the risk profile of Australian farms.
“No industry is immune to cyber risk. And for farmers, it’s an unseen risk compared to the more obvious on-farm risks they see in their daily execution of tasks,” WFI executive general manager Damien Gallagher (pictured) said.
For farmers, that risk can reach well beyond emails, passwords or office computers. As more farms adopt connected machinery, automated systems and digital monitoring tools, cyber incidents can directly affect day-to-day operations.
Dr. Kyle Mulrooney, co-director of the University of New England’s Centre for Rural Criminology, said increased automation and data collection had widened the potential points of exposure.
“Increasing automation and greater capacity for the collection of data on farms means greater risk. Targets can include cyber criminals tapping into smart irrigation systems and flooding crops, and automated tractors being infiltrated to destroy properties. These things can cause immense pain for farmers. They need to think about how to best protect themselves from these types of offenses and whether the technology has a level of inbuilt security,” Mulrooney said.
WFI said potential targets also include intellectual property, such as livestock genetics developed over generations, as well as personal and employee data. Robotic milking systems, grain storage monitoring systems and other connected farm technologies may also be vulnerable to hacking.
That exposure can be particularly disruptive in agriculture, where many businesses operate around the clock and downtime during harvest or livestock operations can carry significant costs.
“For farmers, it’s not only the immediate cost implications from a cyber-attack, but the potential for farming operations to be completely disabled. This can have a knock-on effect across supply chains, and potentially impact food supplies,” Gallagher said.
The findings come as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has urged businesses to strengthen their cyber resilience amid increasing global threats, including by identifying and protecting critical assets and systems.
WFI said cyber cover also remains limited across the wider small business sector. Only around 20% of Australian SMEs currently hold cyber insurance, even as the average cost of cybercrime rose 50% overall between FY24 and FY25 to $56,000 for a small business.
Cyber insurance products have also become more developed, according to WFI. Some now combine risk transfer with preventative tools that continuously scan technologies to reduce the likelihood of an attack, while many also provide 24/7 incident response after a cyber incident.
To reduce exposure, WFI said farmers should use strong passwords and multifactor authentication for email, banking and farming software; back up important farm and financial data regularly; keep one backup offline; and remain alert to suspicious emails, invoice changes and payment requests.
It also advised farmers to keep computers, phones, routers and smart farming equipment updated, separate operational systems from office networks, limit or monitor remote access to farm systems, train staff and family members to recognise scams, prepare a simple incident response plan, protect mobile devices, and consider cyber insurance as part of their wider risk management planning.
WFI said cyber risk should be treated like any other farm risk, with preparation and a continuity plan needed to help protect farming operations if an incident occurs.
