Ransomware Payment Reporting Rules are now active as of 30 May 2025. Under the Cyber Security (Ransomware Payment Reporting) Rules 2025, any business in Australia with annual turnover above $3 million, or operators of critical infrastructure, must report ransomware payments to the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) within 72 hours.
For Melbourne’s SMBs and their Managed Service Providers (MSPs), this isn’t just a new compliance checkbox. It’s a chance to turn regulatory urgency into strategic resilience.
How to Comply with Ransomware Payment Reporting Rules
To meet the new mandate, your IR plan must treat the reporting trigger as a measurable and automatable event. That means configuring your SIEM or SOAR tools to detect common ransomware behaviours — like rapid encryption or outbound traffic to known ransomware servers — and fire an internal alert once indicators are confirmed.
From there, the following workflow should activate:
- Open incident tickets notifying both MSP analysts and client-side stakeholders
- Start a countdown clock in your service desk or workflow tool
- Log all actions in a tamper-evident audit trail to meet compliance requirements
This shift reduces human error and makes compliance part of your standard operating rhythm.
Clarifying Legal Roles and Reporting Authority
In high-pressure ransomware scenarios, role confusion causes delay. Avoid this by ensuring your Master Services Agreements (MSAs) and contracts clearly address:
- Who files the report? MSP or the client’s CISO?
- What is submitted? Use pre-approved templates for ASD forms
- How fast? Empower the MSP to act if the client is unresponsive within a set time window
Work with legal counsel now to formalise this structure. You’ll be protecting both your business and your clients from regulatory risk.
Real-World Drills: From Theory to Practice
Your response plan isn’t battle-ready until it’s been tested. Use quarterly drills to rehearse ransomware events with technical teams, executive stakeholders, and comms staff:
- Tabletop exercises simulate decision-making and communication sequences
- Sandbox simulations test detection and countdown automation in live systems
- After-action reviews provide playbook updates and SLA recalibration
Drills turn abstract policy into real-time reflex — essential when minutes matter.
Strong Communication = Stronger Outcomes
Every ransomware event is a trust event. Prepare your messaging before it’s needed:
- Internal brief templates outlining event status, rationale, and response timelines
- Pre-written FAQs for customers and media to control the narrative
- Regulator-ready packs with contact lists, documentation templates, and escalation paths
Effective communication builds stakeholder confidence and mitigates brand risk.
Offer Compliance as a Service: Turn Readiness Into Revenue
The best MSPs won’t just react — they’ll package compliance into premium services:
- Ransomware Readiness Audits: Gap analysis and reporting readiness score
- Managed Response Playbooks: Tailored to client tech stacks and legal frameworks
- Ongoing Compliance Reviews: Quarterly reporting, drill validation, and contract alignment
Sell preparedness not as a cost, but as a business enabler.
Conclusion: Respond Smarter, Report Faster
The Cyber Security (Ransomware Payment Reporting) Rules 2025 raise the bar — and expectations — for Australian businesses. But with the right automation, legal clarity, stakeholder training, and service packaging, MSPs and internal IT leaders can turn compliance into competitive advantage.
Preparedness isn’t a post-breach scramble. It’s a 72-hour head start.
