Cyber-attacks on the maritime industry’s operational technology(OT) systems have increased by 900% over the last three years with the number of reported incidents set to reach record volumes by year end.
Addressing port and terminal operators during an online forum last week, Robert Rizika, Naval Dome’s Boston-based Head of North American Operations, explained that in 2017 there were 50 significant OT hacks reported, increasing to 120 in 2018 and more than 310 last year. He said this year is looking like it will end with more than 500 major cyber security breaches, with substantially more going unreported.
Speaking during the 2020 Port Security Seminar & Expo, a week-long virtual conference organised by the American Association of Port Authorities, Rizika said that since NotPetya–the virus that resulted in a US$300 million loss for Maersk–“attacks are increasing at an alarming rate”.
Recalling recent attacks, he told delegates that in 2018 the first ports were affected, with Barcelona, then San Diego falling under attack. Australian shipbuilder Austal was hit and the attack on COSCO took down half of the shipowner’s US network.
He said this year a US-based gas pipeline operator and shipping company MSC have been hit by malware, of which the latter incident shut down the shipowner’s Geneva HQ for five days. A US-based cargo facility’s operating systems were infected with the Ryuk ransomware, and last month the OT systems at Iran’s Shahid Rajee port were hacked, restricting all infrastructure movements, creating a massive back log.
Reports of this attack have gone some way in raising public awareness of the potential wider impact of cyber threats on ports around the world. Intelligence from Iran, along with digital satellite imagery, showed the Iranian port in a state of flux for several days. Dozens of cargo ships and oil tankers waiting to offload, while long queues of trucks formed at the entrance to the port stretching for miles, according to Naval Dome.
Emphasising the economic impact and ripple effect of a cyber-attack on port infrastructures, Rizika revealed that a report published by Lloyd’s of London indicated that if 15 Asian ports were hacked financial losses would be more than US$110 billion, a significant amount of which would not be recovered through insurance policies, as OT system hacks are not covered.
In a pre-recorded message broadcast during Naval Dome’s presentation, Rear Admiral(Retd) Shiko Zana, the CEO of Ashdod Port, said: “We have become more aware of the growing cyber threat to OT systems. Naval Dome has a unique cyber defence solution capable of protecting against both internal and external cyber attack vectors. The solution provides protection for OT systems.”