A recent article describes the alarming cyber security issues faced by today’s maritime industry. It is entirely feasible for a hacker to break into a ship’s computer system and alter the ship’s course, for example.
The primary issue is that most maritime transportation firms do not treat their ships’ systems as critical networks. A critical network should be isolated, with only a few well defended entrance points into the network, especially to the ship’s operational systems.
One key attack vector can be software updates and maintenance patches that are applied to the ship’s operational systems via a USB drive or other portable media brought on board by a technician who is often an outside contractor. Luckily, there are now effective solutions to prevent this threat, such as OPSWAT MetaDefender Kiosk. Maintenance and operational files should also be securely stored and handled within the critical network, and a best practice is to use a secure storage solution like OPSWAT Vault. Another best practice is to have all content go through a layered set of defenses, including data sanitization, a technology that can prevent zero-day attacks.
Please learn more about our solutions to protect critical networks.
