October’s Be Cyber Aware at Sea pays attention to reports by towage vessel owners concerning cyber attacks, after a tugboat was targeted in the US.
Similar to the rest of the shipping industry, towage vessels fully rely on technology, and are equally vulnerable to cyber attacks as any other part of the sector.
In addition, the Maritime Transportation System (MTS) – Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) raised concerns about the sector maintaining vigilance following reports of a tugboat receiving a phishing email. This would be the first time a tug had been targeted.
To better explain, phishing is a specific tactic deployed by cyber criminals to trick employees into giving them access to the network, usually be impersonating a trusted authority or person and requesting they click on a link that would download malware.
Consequently, it is recommended that the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) organizations must focus on four layers of defence against phishing attacks, which are:
#1 Make it difficult for attackers to reach your users
The NCSC suggest employing anti-spoofing controls such as DMARC to emails which make them harder to spoof. By limiting personal information in public forums it is also harder for criminals to spoof convincingly. Filter or block incoming phishing emails to reduce the emails your users have to check manually.
#2 Help users to identify and report suspected phishing emails
Train your users to spot phishing emails.
It is highlighted that this can be difficult, even for experts, but there are some common features such as cues to pressure the user to act, which can raise alarm bells, among others. Users should be unafraid to report anything suspicious they see, or ask for assistance in identifying a phishing email.
#3 Protect your organization from the effects of undetected phishing emails
Protect your devices, using correct and up to date software. Reduce users’ ability to accidentally install malware by, for example, limiting administrator accounts. Using up to date browsers should block known phishing and malware sites.
#4 Have a quick response to incidents
Key to this is an effective reporting system for users. In addition a security logging system may pick up incidents users are not aware of. Once an incident is logged, companies need a tested up to date response plan that takes into account various types of incidents.