Cyber Security

In June 2017, A.P. Moller - Maersk fell victim to a major cyber-attack caused by the NotPetya malware, which also affected many organisations globally. As a result, Maersk’s operations in transport and logistics businesses were disrupted, leading to unwarranted impact.

Manos Roudas, General Manager, Aspida gave a presentation entitled ''Cyber Attacks: A Minor Casualty or Today's Biggest Threat?'' at the 2015 SAFETY4SEA Athens Forum. He focused on the recent cyber threats which are a growing menace with a significant impact on operations as well as disastrous consequences for business continuity. He analysed issues in order to be secured from cyber-attacks such as the impacts of an attack, ways to be secured from threats, measures taken under attack, how to realise you have become a target, how to avoid a targeted attack, what a hacker is looking for and who is responsible to secure the company. 90% of the worlds goods come from the sea. This is 400 billion dollars industry actually. At the same time 18 /20 container lines were found to be vulnerable to hackers, to people that can gain access to their systems. 37% of server computers on ships are also vulnerable to hackers. So lets see what people think about cyber security. Lets see what you think. Most people turn to think that it is something very technical that should only concern the IT guys. Other people believe that it is pure science fiction like Hollywood movies....

In its March edition of 'Phish and Ships', Be Cyber Aware at Sea cited the most influential and destructive examples of ransomware currently emerging. Despite significant progress, ransomware is still difficult to stop even for Windows computers running antivirus. The only reliable defence is a backup, but even that can come under attack if it can be reached from the infected PC.

Knowing exactly where you’re sailing and where to sail next is the most important part of a vessel’s navigation which can be accomplished by the use of GPS. Yet, what happens when your GPS gets spoofed? GPS spoofing, often leading to GPS outages, causes major disruptions to the shipping industry impacting safe navigation, leading to paralyzed shipping lanes, collisions and untraceable attacks.

In mid-2017, the industry was shaken by a major cyber-attack against Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, which led the sector to adopt a new look at cyber security issues. 2018 validated this trend as cyber incidents continued affecting operators, ports, and shipbuilders.

From 1st of January, 2021 cyber security will be a new requirement for all Safety Management Systems, according to IMO Resolution. In our special column SeaSense, in association with The North of England P&I Club, we ask global experts to provide feedback whether shipping industry is ready or not to comply.

Cosco's operations in the US were hit by a cyber-attack on Tuesday, July 24. As a result its daily operations in the US were affected. The company's operations outside the US are not affected, according to reports, while terminal operations are continuing their operations unaffected.

The era of digitalization and rapid development of technologies has called for immediate action, which led the IMO to issue and implement a series of regulations and guidelines on cyber risk management, with, last but not least, the adoption of the Resolution MSC.428(98), which calls companies to report any cyber risk in their ISM Code no later than January 1, 2021.

Ahead of EU GDPR entry into force, across the EU from 25th May 2018 onwards, an effective Cyber Security Management Plan could provide guidance to secure shipping companies and managed vessels from potential cyber threats.

With cyber threats  constantly evolving, cyber related processes on board ships need to successfully provide protection against cyber attacks. For this reason, BIMCO along with several maritime industry organisations published the third version of the 'Guidelines on Cyber Security onboard Ships'.