The cybersecurity threat to ports

WHITEPAPER:

The cybersecurity threat to ports:

Context, assessment, and looking forward

High-profile cyberattacks targeting ports in recent years has put cybersecurity at the forefront of broader security threats facing supply chain operations. As ports have increasingly digitalised their operations, the safeguarding of their digital networks and assets has often remained underdeveloped. Integration across systems means that a cybersecurity breach in one port is more able to impact other ports, suppliers, partners, and clients than a traditional security breach could.

The increased dependency on information and operational technologies has both attracted new threat actors and provided alternative methods for traditional ones. The digitalisation of processes means cyberattacks can not only steal sensitive data and disrupt corporate systems but also facilitate smuggling, shutdown port operations, or cause physical damage. The bolstering of port cybersecurity requirements is not only in the interest of port authorities, but also the private and public parties who rely on the maritime supply chain.

This report puts port cybersecurity in context, particularly with the digital revolution and the creation of so-called ‘smart ports’. But the varied structures of ports and the diversity of port operators responsible for processes without common security standards has created substantial cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The report outlines the vulnerabilities that this process has created, and also gives an overview of the threat actors that might exploit these vulnerabilities – and the types of attacks that they might carry out. Looking forward, the report concludes that the potential cost of not integrating cybersecurity procedures outweighs that of implementation.