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 $725M in 2025. This marked a 60% year-over-year increase, as organized crime groups shifted toward high-value, cyber-enabled theft strategies.

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.

Evolving financial cybercrime threats

Financial cybercrime targeting insureds generally falls into one of three core categories:

  • Funds transfer fraud: When a bad actor gains access to banking credentials and initiates a fraudulent transfer
  • Social engineering: When employees are deceived into voluntarily sending funds or physical property, through the use of fraudulent or deceptive communications
  • Invoice manipulation: When attackers infiltrate an insured’s email 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, limitations often remain. Coverage may be subject to sublimits, 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.

Logistics sector faces unique cyber exposures

The logistics industry has become increasingly vulnerable as operations shift from paper-based systems to digital platforms.

There has been a major transformation in how trucking and logistics operate. 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, with losses pegged between $500M and $700M.

Perishable goods, such as food shipments, are especially attractive targets due to their limited traceability and urgency. Once a refrigerated load is diverted, it is very difficult to recover.

How to address coverage gaps

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.

Insureds may end up in a situation where the cyber insurer says it’s a cargo claim, and the cargo insurer says it’s cyber – this is where the gap lies.

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. There are also 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.

Takeaway

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 is key to work with an expert who understands 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 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.

Theft deductibles are increasing, and a lot of that theft is tied to cybercrime. Agents are actively looking for solutions. Having a product that directly addresses those exposures is a significant advantage.

We help you win

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.

For more information, contact your Amwins broker or learn more about Cyber+ here.