Law firm HFW and maritime cybersecurity company CyberOwl have joined forces to help the shipping industry regarding cyber risk management and compliance, says an article published in Cyber Owl.
About the partnership
The partners aim to help the maritime sector prevent and defend against commercial, legal, technical, and operational risks, such as reviews of vessel cyber security seaworthiness, cyber security monitoring, and related legal and consulting advice.
Creating new vulnerabilities
As Paul Dean, Global Head of Shipping, HFW, says cybersecurity is a growing concern for the global shipping industry, with the continued move towards digitalization creating new vulnerabilities and “IMO 2021 introducing a regulatory requirement for owners to demonstrate that cyber policies are effectively implemented.”
“The reality is that traditional cybersecurity systems are not designed to overcome the unique technical, operational, and commercial challenges of shipping, such as the need to demonstrate due diligence in ensuring seaworthiness and cargo worthiness to minimize disagreements around liabilities in the unfortunate event of a cyber attack”
Vessel owners lack confidence
As for, Daniel Ng, CEO, CyberOwl, he explained that many vessel owners and managers have expressed a lack of confidence that the steps they have taken to comply with IMO 2021 actually help them defend themselves technically, operationally, commercially, and legally in case of a cyber attack.
“Cybersecurity is becoming an increasing focus and priority for boards around the world. In these times of unprecedented change, organizations are realizing that the previous ways of working are no longer fit for purpose, and are having to adapt with agility and at pace, to remain competitive and relevant in this evolving commercial landscape”
Becoming a target for cybercriminals
In a recent incident, K-Line experienced a second hacking incident during 2021, indicating that shipping is becoming a popular target for cybercriminals.
After the cyber attack, K-Line issued a statement reporting that there had been unauthorized access to overseas subsidiary systems, while the stolen information and data have been published recently.
“We offer our sincerest apologies for any complications and concerns that this may bring to our potentially impacted customers and stakeholders”
IMO’s attack
Cyber criminals had also targeted Korea’s shipping company HMM. According to the company, the security breach was detected on June 12, damaging it email outlook system in certain areas.
CMA CGM was struck by a ransomware attack that took the company’s systems down, disrupting bookings and other systems.
Finally, IMO also suffered an attack that took some of its meeting capabilities offline.
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Source: CyberOwl
