Cyber Security Act 2024 Ransomware payment reporting within 72 hours

Part 3 applies only when the incident is a cyber security incident, the incident has had, is having, or could reasonably be expected to have a direct or indirect impact on a reporting business entity, an extorting entity makes a demand to benefit from the incident or its impact, and the reporting business entity provides or becomes aware that another entity has provided a payment or benefit on its behalf that is directly related to the demand.

For this Act, a cyber security incident must be an event covered by the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act meaning or an unauthorised impairment of electronic communications to or from a computer, including mere interception for this purpose, and it must have one of the constitutional connections in section 9(2). For incidents outside the critical-infrastructure-asset and constitutional-corporation limbs, section 26 presumes the event is a cyber security incident if it was probably internet-enabled, probably impaired a computer's connection, or probably seriously prejudiced specified Australian interests. The presumption cannot make an entity liable to the Part 3 civil penalty when the relevant condition did not exist in fact.

Document the trigger analysis before classifying a ransom negotiation as reportable. Capture the incident facts, the demand, the payment or benefit, who paid, whether the payment was on behalf of the reporting business entity, and how the incident connects to that entity.

The duty applies to a reporting business entity at the time the ransomware payment is made. One route covers an entity carrying on a business in Australia whose annual turnover for the previous financial year exceeds the threshold, provided it is not a Commonwealth body, State body, or responsible entity for a critical infrastructure asset. The other covers a responsible entity for a critical infrastructure asset to which Part 2B of the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 applies.

The 2025 Rules set the ordinary turnover threshold at $3 million for the previous financial year and include a pro-rata formula where the business operated for only part of that year. The Act says turnover must exceed the threshold. The Rules' Explanatory Statement describes $3 million or more as captured, and the current cyber.gov.au form labels its turnover option "equal to or exceeds $3 million." Those non-binding descriptions do not match section 26. An entity at exactly $3 million should promptly confirm the filing position rather than treating either description as a change to the Act.

Once the scoped entity makes the payment, or becomes aware that the payment has been made, the report is due within 72 hours, whichever clock-start is applicable.

Section 27 requires the report to contain information the reporting business entity knows, or is able by reasonable search or enquiry to find out at the time of reporting, about the relevant entity details, the cyber security incident, the demand, the ransomware payment, and communications with the extorting entity.

The Rules prescribe details within those categories: Australian Business Number (ABN), if any, and address; incident and awareness timing; infrastructure and customer impacts; ransomware or malware variants and exploited vulnerabilities if any; information that could assist response, mitigation, or resolution; the amount or quantum and method demanded and provided; and the nature, timing, description, and pre-payment negotiation details of communications with the extorting entity. Section 27 also permits the entity to include other incident information.

The report must be given to the designated Commonwealth body. Under the Act's definition, if no rules specify another body, the designated bodies are the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Signals Directorate. Section 27 requires the Secretary-approved form, if any, and any manner prescribed by the rules.

The Australian Government currently provides the Ransomware payment and cyber extortion payment reporting form on cyber.gov.au. The form allows a third party to submit on behalf of the reporting business entity and asks for both organisations' details where applicable. Confirm the live filing instructions at submission time and keep the completed report, confirmation page or transmission record, and submission timestamp.

The report-content duty is limited to information the reporting business entity knows or can find out by reasonable search or enquiry within the 72-hour reporting period. The search log should show what was checked, who was asked, what was known at submission time, and which items remained genuinely unknown.

Failure to give a required report carries an express civil penalty of 60 penalty units. The report protections are qualified: the Act limits specified use, disclosure, and admissibility of report information and preserves privilege claims in most proceedings, but those protections do not cover the same information when a body obtains it independently or when it is already lawfully public. They also contain exceptions for enforcement of Part 3, specified criminal-law matters, coronial inquiries, Royal Commissions, and certain federal-court proceedings.

Keep the report itself, the deadline calculation, the scope assessment, the demand and payment evidence, communication records, malware or vulnerability findings, customer and infrastructure impact notes, approval records, and any follow-up corrections or incident-response actions. Separate the ransomware payment report from other SOCI, privacy, law-enforcement, insurer, or contractual notifications so each obligation has its own trigger and evidence trail.