The digitization of the transportation and logistics industry has brought efficiency gains, but also a surge in sophisticated financial cybercrime and theft schemes, exposing significant gaps in insurance coverage.
Cargo theft losses alone surged to nearly $725 million in 2025, according to data from Verisk CargoNet. This marked a 60% year-over-year increase, as organized crime groups shifted toward high-value, cyber-enabled theft strategies.
According to specialists at Amwins, logistics operators face an ever-growing array of cyber-enabled fraud schemes, many of which fall into gray areas between traditional cyber and cargo insurance policies.
Financial cybercrime targeting insureds generally falls into one of three core categories: funds transfer fraud, social engineering, or invoice manipulation.
“Funds transfer fraud is when a bad actor gains access to banking credentials and initiates a fraudulent transfer,” said Matt Donovan (pictured on the right), executive vice president and professional lines specialist at Amwins. “Social engineering, on the other hand, involves deceiving employees into voluntarily sending funds or physical property, through the use of fraudulent or deceptive communications.”
A third category, invoice manipulation, flips the scenario. Here, attackers infiltrate an insured’s e-mail or systems and trick the insured’s vendors or clients into sending payments or physical property to the bad actor.
While robust cyber policies can address these exposures, Donovan noted that limitations often remain. Coverage may be subject to sub-limits, restrictive conditions such as callback verification requirements, or disputes over whether losses are calculated on a gross or net basis.
“Even well-structured policies can leave gaps, particularly when it comes to third-party funds in care, custody, and control, or physical property tied to these schemes,” said Donovan.
The logistics industry has become increasingly vulnerable as operations shift from paper-based systems to digital platforms.
“There’s been a major transformation in how trucking and logistics operate,” said Stuart Harmon (pictured on the right), vice president and transportation specialist at Amwins Brokerage. “With that has come a rise in cybercrime, particularly impersonation schemes where bad actors pose as legitimate carriers to steal cargo.”
One common tactic involves intercepting bills of lading or load information and rerouting shipments. Another is “double brokering,” where fraudulent operators establish seemingly legitimate businesses, gain trust, and then steal high-value loads. Freight fraud complaints tied to brokering have surged by up as much as 400% in recent years, according to freight load board provider Truckstop, with losses pegged between $500 million and $700 million.
Perishable goods, such as food shipments, are especially attractive targets due to their limited traceability and urgency. “Once a refrigerated load is diverted, it’s very difficult to recover,” Harmon said.
A key challenge for logistics firms lies in how insurance policies respond – or fail to respond – to cyber-related losses.
Motor truck cargo policies, traditionally designed to cover physical loss or damage, often exclude theft arising from cyber incidents. At the same time, standard cyber policies may not extend to physical goods or indirect transactions.
“You end up with a situation where the cyber insurer says it’s a cargo claim, and the cargo insurer says it’s cyber,” Harmon said. “That’s where the gap is.”
The issue is particularly acute for logistics intermediaries such as freight brokers, who facilitate transactions between shippers and carriers but may not directly handle funds or goods.
“Most standard cyber policies only cover funds, not physical property. Some include third-party funds, and a smaller subset includes physical goods,” Donovan said. “Then there are restrictions such as callback requirements or thresholds that limit coverage.
“Even robust policies typically only apply when you are directly deceived or when you are expecting payment. In logistics, you’re often a third party facilitating between two others. Standard policies don’t contemplate that scenario.”
In response to these challenges, Amwins has added a new coverage endorsement to Cyber+, an exclusive cyber insurance product aimed at small and mid-sized enterprises.
The product is designed to close gaps by expanding the scope of covered events, including “uncollectible invoice” scenarios in which two third parties rely on fraudulent instructions transmitted through an insured’s systems.
Cyber+ includes enhanced limits for social engineering and invoice manipulation (up to $500,000) along with broader breach response coverage and additional defense costs outside policy limits. Further, dependent business interruption coverage is included to address scenarios where firms reliant on third-party hosted software platforms (Transportation Management Systems, Warehouse Management Systems, etc.) suffer business interruption losses and extra expenses during the downtime.
The policy also incorporates cybersecurity services, including employee training and threat detection tools, reflecting a growing emphasis on risk prevention alongside risk transfer.
As cyber risks evolve, wholesale brokers are playing an increasingly critical role in helping retail agents and clients navigate a complex and fragmented insurance landscape.
“It’s really about understanding the nuance in policy wording. Coverage might look the same on a grid, but a few words in the insuring agreement, definitions, or exclusions can change everything,” said Donovan. “Those nuances can make a big difference.”
Wholesale partners bring specialized expertise across industries and coverage lines, as well as access to niche markets and the ability to develop tailored products like Cyber+. For clients in the logistics space facing mounting cyber threats, that expertise is becoming essential.
“It’s clearly a growing need. Theft deductibles are increasing, and a lot of that theft is tied to cybercrime. Agents are actively looking for solutions,” Harmon said. “Having a product that directly addresses those exposures is a significant advantage.”
Learn more about Cyber+ here.
This article was produced in partnership with Amwins.
