Phil Ponsford is the Managing Director Astaara Risk Management, part of Astaara Company Ltd, a specialist cyber insurer for the maritime industry.  

He joined the company in 2021 following a 32 year career in the Royal Navy. The majority of this was afloat in ships and submarines deployed across the globe, but he also spent time ashore in Afghanistan, Iraq and the wider Middle East.  

In addition to leading the team that authored the first cyber guidance for Royal Navy commanding officers, his penultimate military role was as Deputy Director of NMIC, the UK’s cross government maritime security organisation.  This included work for the UK and US on developing the roles and responsibilities for a flag state in assessing and regulating cyber sea worthiness.  

Since joining Astaara he has specialised in helping vessel owners, managers and port operators identify their cyber risks, mitigate those risks and raise their cyber security standards to a level sufficient for risk transfer.