Essential Eight Compliance & Cybersecurity Consulting for Australian SMBs

The Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) Essential Eight is the baseline cybersecurity framework for Australian organisations. It covers eight strategies: application control, patch management, macro configuration, user application hardening, administrative privilege restriction, OS patching, multi-factor authentication, and backups.

A Gap Assessment benchmarks your current controls against all eight strategies and produces a maturity level score (0–3) for each. The deliverable is a plain-English report with findings and a risk-prioritised remediation roadmap — the documentation your cyber insurer and government panel manager require. Our assessment starts at $8,500 AUD with a 2–3 week timeline.

Increasingly, yes. Australian cyber insurers are tightening underwriting requirements. Many now require evidence of Essential Eight Maturity Level 1 or higher as a baseline condition for coverage. Without documented controls, premiums rise significantly or coverage is declined entirely.

A rabbiico Gap Assessment produces the compliance documentation your broker and insurer need.

VAPT Starter ($7,500) is an automated + guided vulnerability assessment ideal for a first security test. It covers automated scanning, OWASP Top 10 (automated checks), port scanning, DNS recon, CVE detection, and includes a 14-day re-test.

Full VAPT ($12,000) is the gold standard. It includes everything in VAPT Starter plus manual penetration testing by senior consultants — advanced injection testing, business logic analysis, API security, OWASP ASVS verification, proof-of-concept exploitation, and a 30-day re-test. It’s how red teams operate and what we recommend for any business with a web application, API, or complex environment.

Cyber Shield plans give you ongoing protection at a significant saving compared to booking standalone assessments. Each plan includes two assessments per year plus continuous support between tests:

• Cyber Shield ($12,500/year) — 2 VAPT Starter assessments, vulnerability alerts, priority booking, monthly security digest. Save $2,500.
• Cyber Shield Pro ($19,500/year) — 2 Full VAPT assessments, continuous monitoring, dedicated consultant, quarterly posture report. Save $4,500.
• Cyber Shield Complete ($29,500/year) — 2 Full VAPT + E8 assessments, compliance tracking, annual strategy session, board-ready reporting. Save $7,500.

All Cyber Shield plans are annual with no hidden fees.

VAPT combines two complementary activities. A vulnerability assessment systematically identifies weaknesses across your systems. Penetration testing goes further — a security expert actively attempts to exploit those weaknesses the way an attacker would, demonstrating real-world risk.

rabbiico offers VAPT Starter from $7,500 AUD (automated + guided) and Full VAPT from $12,000 AUD (including manual penetration testing by senior consultants). For complete coverage including Essential Eight compliance, the Full VAPT + Essential Eight package starts at $18,500 AUD. All findings are reported with CVSS severity scores and actionable remediation recommendations.

Timelines depend on the engagement:

• Essential Eight Gap Assessment: 2–3 weeks
• VAPT Starter: 1–2 weeks
• Full VAPT: 2–4 weeks
• Full VAPT + Essential Eight: 3–5 weeks
• Secure Code Review: 1–3 weeks

A scoping call (30 minutes) establishes timelines before we begin. We do not start billable work until a fixed scope and price are agreed.

Yes. After your assessment we can scope a fixed-price remediation project to address findings systematically. Ongoing Cyber Shield annual plans are also available for VAPT tiers — contact us to discuss the right arrangement for your business.