In the latest issue of Phish&Ships maritime cyber security newsletter, Be Cyber Aware at Sea campaign draws attention to the rise of worrying security weaknesses affecting the industry, revealing that, in the past month, more attacks have been reported.
In the last month, BW Group was targeted by computer hackers. The Singapore-based shipowner confirmed that they had suffered an “unauthorised access” though they stressed that actions were taken to rectify the matter so that internal and external communications to customers and stakeholders were not impacted, stressing that it was “business as usual”.
However, as with a swan, underneath the surface a great deal more was going on: the company had to implement a security response and work around system down times. Their IT department, with the assistance of external consultants, then worked to reinforce their cybersecurity infrastructure. BW Group said the cyber attack was not ransomware and gave no further information on any financial or data loss due to the unauthorised external access.
In addition, when the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) was attacked and succumbed to the WannaCry ransomware attack, it caught headlines around the world. Now a report into the attack and response has (unsurprisingly) found that NHS computers were not being updated.
“So, we need to do more. There is a need for training – 84% of seafarers in a recent survey said they lack training. This has to change. We also need to tackle the use of USB sticks onboard,” the newsletter read.
For all the convenience and power of the USB drive, there are some serious dangers to be wary of. Almost everyone carries them and this has perhaps made us overly trusting of the technology. We plug them in, pull them out, and plug them in again without a second thought to issues of security and protection.
“USB drive dangers require constant vigilance. You might use the same USB drive for years without a hitch, then one day you could grab a file off of your friend’s computer and end up infecting your home network with something serious.”
Top USB security tips “In fact, USB drives are like mosquitoes. They have the potential to pick up infections when plugged into an infected computer and they can spread those infections almost instantaneously as they’re plugged into other devices. This is why it’s so important that you keep not only your computers clean but your USB devices as well using regular scans and antivirus programs.” Further details may be found herebelow:
