Cybersecurity – Page 2 – Pacific Maritime Magazine

Seaport Cybersecurity – A Serious Undertaking

In January 2022, port facilities in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands reported large-scale ransomware attacks that disrupted operations at oil terminals and prevented tankers from delivering energy supplies throughout the region. The attacks impacted at least 17 terminals, including those in Hamburg, Ghent, Antwerp-Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. The reported ransom demands were around $14 million, well above the average demand. In 2019, a Singapore-based public-private initiative called Cyber Risk Management (CyRiM) studied a hypothetical cyberattack against 15 Asian seaports. In their analysis – called the Shen Attack – the theorized cyberattack would be launched by a computer virus carried by a…

Maritime Security is Everyone’s Job

The challenge of securing ships and ports is not new. The Jack Sparrows of the world long have been trying to hijack ships, steal their cargo and misdirect the vessels onto the rocks, so pirates can harvest the booty that floats onto the beach. However, with better technology on ships and in ports, and new vectors available for the attacks, the necessary actions to predict and prevent physical and cyber assaults to shipping companies and seaports are increasing. There is more work to do to keep the buccaneers at bay, and there are new threats to consider in the maritime…

Maritime Cybersecurity Guidelines: Dissecting the Alphabet Soup

The world of maritime cybersecurity is relatively new, and there’s an increasing amount of information on this topic in the maritime media. In fact, Pacific Maritime Magazine has included a bi-monthly column focused on this topic to help readers better understand why cybersecurity is important to the trade and to offer some references and guidance to readers when they wish to learn more about cybersecurity for their ships and ports. In the area of international cybersecurity guidelines, there are several entities producing detailed cybersecurity recommendations that ship owners are expected to observe. These organizations include the International Maritime Organization (IMO),…