From our Friends at Be Cyber Aware at Sea:
Welcome to this month’s edition of Phish & Ships, brought to you by The Be Cyber Aware at Sea campaign. As we approach the end of the year it is a good time to reflect on what a year it has been. On balance I think a good one for cyber security, with far greater awareness of cyber threats throughout industry and signs of firms taking proactive steps to counter them. As 2019 comes to a close we are also one step closer to the adoption of IMO rules regarding cyber preparation. This month’s edition still carries the same warnings – a cyber attack of the UK based maritime services provider being the latest in the list of industry specific attacks. However there are positive stories to give us all hope, such as the Cyber-SHIP lab at the University of Plymouth. We wish you all a happy Christmas wherever you are, and look forward to sharing another year of cyber-developments with you.
Link to full Phish and Ships report: Phish and Ships 12 2019.pdf
SHEN ATTACK: CYBER RISK IN ASIA PACIFIC PORTS
A recent report led by NTU-IRFRC has cast a fresh wave of concern over the maritime and offshore industry with its findings. The report asks the question of what the impact would be on the global economy and insurers if several ports in Asia-Pacific were forced to close as a result of a cyber-attack?
The hypothetical virus, Shen (name derived from a Chinese mythological clam monster) was used against a port management authority and, in three different scales of scenario, had the effect of closing between 6 - 15 ports across several countries in Asia-Pacific. This question is timely to ask; so far while cyberattacks have impacted individual ports, an attack of this scale has not been seen despite it being all too likely given the systemic vulnerabilities of the industry. A combination of ‘aging shipping infrastructure and globally complex supply chains’ makes port management a key vulnerability.
Key Findings:
* Economic damage to the world economy may range between $40.8 billion to $109.8 billion
* Sectors affected the heaviest indirect and direct economic losses are transportation, aviation, aerospace, retail, manufacturing and real estate, property and construction
* Productivity losses affect each country that has bilateral trade with the attacked ports and Asia would lose up to $26 billion, followed by the EU on $623 million and the US on $266 million
* Claims by the insurance industry are estimated as between $3.6 billion to $8.3 billion
* Insurance industry losses fall between 8% and 9% of the total economic loss, demonstrating the levels of under-insurance at play
* Business interruption and contingent business interruption coverage are the main drivers of insured losses
* Cyber is not explicitly mentioned in policies, accounting for 62% - 57% of losses As these numbers attest, the hypothetical Shen virus would cause havoc worldwide.
With the growth of cyber threats against the backdrop of the growth in cyber practices in trade it is important that insurers and the maritime industry respect the scale of the problem at large. They should heed warnings such as this one and expand their view of cyber risks and create ‘new products, services and mitigation strageties’ to make their communities more resilient.
A recent report led by NTU-IRFRC has cast a fresh wave of concern over the maritime and offshore industry with its findings. The report asks the question of what the impact would be on the global economy and insurers if several ports in Asia-Pacific were forced to close as a result of a cyber-attack?
Read more here: : https://www.lloyds.com/news-and-risk-insight/risk-reports/library/technology/shen-attack-cyber-risk-in-asia-pacific-ports
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