The majority of maritime professionals expect cyber attacks to disrupt ship operations in the coming years, revealed a recent report by DNV. It concluded that maritime cyber security requires more investment, better regulation, and sharing of incident experiences.
The Maritime Cyber Priority 2023 report includes a survey of over 800 maritime professionals regarding cyber security. Results revealed that 90% of respondents expect disruption of ship/fleet operations from cyber incidents, 79% expect theft of property/cargo, 76% expect damage to port/cargo handling infrastructure, and 72% expect harm to the environment.
“According to our research, more than six in 10 industry professionals expect cyber-attacks to cause ship collisions (60%) and groundings (68%) within the next few years. More than three-quarters (76%) believe a cyber incident is likely to force the closure of a strategic waterway,” said the report.
The report adds that the industry is not fully prepared for the threat and that investment is lagging behind what is necessary. “Perception around investment is noticeably higher among professionals in freight transport than it is among passenger transportation and industry services professionals, perhaps due to the high-profile attacks on major container lines over the last decade, combined with the importance of connectivity in decarbonising this sub-sector. However, industry professionals across the board do not think their organizations are investing enough.”
Seven recommendations were put forward by the report – including considering cyber security as an enabler, treating cyber issues like safety issues, sharing insights across the industry, creating a more effective training strategy, maintaining fallback options for systems, and reframing regulation as a baseline from which to build cyber security.
