PONDICHERRY MARITIME ACADEMY

Your maritime cybersecurity action plan will take some time to pull together, you can do several things in the short-term to jumpstart your efforts and establish an initial baseline of cybersecurity for your vessels: Your On-Vessel Maritime Cybersecurity Action Plan Update the admin password on critical systems and devices on your OT network Make sure you change the admin password on your critical systems and devices from the manufacturer default. Hackers can quickly identify and access internet-connected systems that use shared default passwords. It is imperative to change default manufacturer passwords and restrict network access to critical vessel systems. Update your passwords regularly and use multi-factor authentication, where possible If you do not have one in place already, deploy a password management system for your critical computers and devices on your OT network. This includes adding multi factor authentication, where possible, and changing passwords (including a...

Some of the maritime cybersecurity compliance measures you need to consider include IMO Resolution MSC. 428(98), ISA/IEC 62443, ISO/IEC 27001, and TMSA. There are also other industry and regulatory standards that you need to adhere to based on your country of operation and nature of your vessels’ operations. As connectivity and reliance on the Internet are now the norms with many technologies essential to the operation and management of vessels, the security, safety, and reliability of these systems is paramount. To that end, the maritime industry is recognizing the need for cybersecurity oversight to ensure the effective management and mitigation of evolving cyber threats. Let’s take a look at a few of the compliance measures in depth: IMO Resolution MSC.428(98) A significant cybersecurity compliance deadline facing the maritime industry is the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Resolution MSC.428(98), which encourages administrations to ensure that cyber risks are appr...

UNI VM, the awarded solution for Maritime Cyber Safety Uni is a virtualization solution for vessels that provides a high availability, active-active cluster for managing onboard systems and applications. It offers customization options that can adapt to any IT infrastructure on board, utilizing existing equipment and high-end specs. MarPoint’s Central Management Platform provides a holistic approach to IT infrastructure management, ensuring a seamless and efficient operation. MarPoint’s solutions are designed to comply with IMO 2021 guidelines and IACS URs E26 & E27 for cyber safety, making them a reliable choice for businesses seeking to enhance their cyber resilience and minimize the risk of cyber attacks. Evo2 Router The Evo2 Router is an ABS Class-Approved multi-WAN network management solution that provides seamless internet connectivity, independent of the airtime provider. Equipped with redundant hardware components, it ensures true failover and advanced network manag...

How do IT and OT Cyber security Differ? Operational technology (OT) is hardware and software that detects or causes a change through the direct monitoring and control of industrial equipment, assets, processes, and events. In contrast, information technology covers the entire spectrum of technologies for information processing, including software, hardware, communications technologies, and related services related services. Before we delve into the cyber security challenges affecting the maritime industry, let’s take a step back and examine some of the differences between IT and OT systems. Some of the differences in system requirements include: Differences in System Requirements IT System Requirements OT System Requirements Performance Non-real-time Response must be consistent Less critical emergency interaction Tightly restricted access control can be implemented to the degree necessary for security Real-time Response...

Maritime is one of the oldest industries and lifeblood of the global economy, accounting for the carriage of 90% of world trade. Ships and other vessels may seem like unusual targets for cyberattacks. But with their growing use of industrial control systems (ICS) and satellite communications, hackers have a new playground that’s ripe for attack. In a 2020 Safety at Sea and BIMCO Maritime Cyber Security survey, despite the majority of respondents (77%) viewing cyber-attacks as a high or medium risk to their organizations, few appear to be prepared for the aftermath of such an attack, 64% of respondents said their organization has a business continuity plan in place to follow in the event of a cyber incident, but only 24% claimed it was tested every three months, and only 15% said that it was tested every six to 12 months. Only 42% of respondents said that their organization protects vessels from operational technology (OT) cyber threats, and some respondents went so far as to describe...