Law firm HFW and maritime cyber security company CyberOwl have joined forces to help the shipping industry regarding cyber risk management and compliance.
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.
As Paul Dean, Global Head of Shipping, HFW, says cyber security is a growing concern for the global shipping industry, with the continued move towards digitalisation 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 cyber security 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 cargoworthiness to minimise disagreements around liabilities in the unfortunate event of a cyber attack
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.
Cyber security is becoming an increasing focus and priority for boards around the world. In these times of unprecedented change, organisations are realising 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
stated Chris O’Callaghan, Director, HFW Consulting.
In a recent incident, K Line experienced a second hacking incident during 2021, indicating that shipping is becoming a popular target for cyber criminals.
After the cyber attack, K Line issued a statement reporting that there had been an unauthorised access to overseas subsidiary systems, while the stolen information and data has been published recently.
We offer our sincerest apologies for any complications and concerns that this may bring to our potentially impacted customers and stakeholders
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.
