Cyberattacks pose threat to global shipping: Report

The crippling ransomware attack against the Colonial Pipeline in the U.S. in May should be a wake-up call for the shipping industry, according to a report published Tuesday by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE.

Not only did the attack reveal weaknesses in cybersecurity, but it also highlighted how critical infrastructure is attractive to cybercriminals and nation-states, AGCS, a unit of Allianz SE, said in the report.

Shipping and logistics companies saw three times as many ransomware attacks in 2020 as in 2019, according to security services provider BlueVoyant, cited in the report.

A spike in malware, ransomware and phishing emails during the pandemic helped drive a 400% increase in attempted cyberattacks against shipping companies through the first months of 2020, AGCS said.

To date most cyber incidents in the shipping industry have been shore-based, including ransomware and malware attacks against shipping companies and ports, AGCS said.

However, the threat to vessels is growing as more ships are linked to onshore systems for navigation and performance management, AGCS said. A targeted attack by a nation-state group against shipping could inflict major damage and disrupt trade, such as by blocking a major shipping route, the report said.

Cyber threats have the potential to impact all facets of the supply chain, said Capt. Andrew Kinsey, senior marine risk consultant at AGCS during an interview with Business Insurance.

A cyberattack can easily infiltrate any aspect of a maritime operation, but if it’s specifically targeted it can go after vessel operating systems, Capt. Kinsey said. “We have been fortunate to date that vessels have not been actively targeted. That can change in literally a keystroke,” he said.

While the blocking of the Suez Canal by the ultra-large Ever Given container ship in March was an accident, it showed the disruption a momentary loss of propulsion or a steering failure can cause, AGCS said in the report.

The Ever Given incident caused huge delays, affecting an estimated $9.6 billion of goods each day, or around 12% of total world trade, AGCS said.

Some 49 total losses of vessels were reported globally in 2020, the second lowest total this century and a 50% decline over 10 years, AGCS said. The number of shipping incidents declined from 2,818 in 2019 to 2,703 in 2020.

However, the number of fires/explosions resulting in total losses hit a four-year high of 10 in 2020. Container losses also spiked, with more than 3,000 containers lost at sea in 2020, and over 1,000 falling overboard during the first months of 2021, the report said.