According to a recent statement, the London Offshore Consultants (LOC) Group has recently been the victim of cyber-attacks. It is said that investigations are in still underway and are being led by the appointed cyber security experts.
It is added that the LOC systems ensured that the attacks were quickly identified and since that time, LOC have been dealing with the matter professionally and with the help of independent cyber security experts, in order to minimize business interruption and ensure data integrity.
LOC’s response included fulfilling all of its regulatory obligations in a timely manner.
According to independent experts’ findings, the attacks saw a data breach confined to a single site, affecting a small number of clients, who were notified without delay.
The marine engineering consultancy stated that will implement any subsequent recommendations to improve the systems as appropriate.
LOC’s CEO, R.V Ahilan, commented that “Any IT attack is deeply regrettable and unsettling for our clients, and our own teams. I would therefore again like to apologise for the inconvenience to the small number of clients affected, and to give all of those we work with the assurance that we take our IT security extremely seriously. We continue to make significant investments to ensure our systems remain robust. I would like to thank those involved in limiting the impact for their swift and professional response.”
Recently, the UK published an amended cyber security code of practice concerning those with responsibility for protecting the technical systems of port facilities and vessels docked in ports, following the frequency of cyber attacks in the last years.
The Good Practice Guide uses principles, in comparison to national legislation or specific standards to promote good practice in ports and boost the cyber security measures already implemented.
The Guide mostly concerns those responsible for protecting the port/port facility, ships (when docked or berthed), persons, cargo, cargo transport units and ships’ stores within the port from the risks of a security incident.
Remarkably, the era of digitalization and rapid development of technologies in the maritime sector has called for immediate action, for the protection of the seafarers and the whole industry, which led the International Maritime Organization (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). The resolution calls companies to report any cyber risk in their ISM Code no later than January 1, 2021.
