Might a criminal be able to steal a ship’s cargo with a fraudulent electronic BOL (bill of lading)? That was among the issues raised at a cyber-security seminar by the Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI) in London recently.
The event at SAMI headquarters at HQS Wellington, pictured, heard that cyber is a matter beyond security, as in law an IT failure as a result of hacking might affect ‘seaworthiness’ – an important concept in maritime law. Other issues showed that maritime has much in common with other business facing cyber threats: such as the need for ‘cyber-hygiene’, and back-ups of data in case of loss (whether due to a hack or by accident). Andrew Fitzmaurice, of cyber-security trainers Templar Executives, among other things called for board level leadership, and spoke of resilience to cyber-attack – that is, accepting that there will be compromises. He suggested printing sensitive documents and keeping them in a safe, rather than keeping an electronic copy. As the event raised concerns that a lack of exchange of information between companies is a hindrance, SAMI said afterwards that it intends to set up a cyber-security working group. See the September print issue of Professional Security magazine for a full report.
For speaker presentations visit – http://www.seasecurity.org/resources/seaworthiness-cyber-security/.
Speakers after a welcome by Peter Cook, SAMI CEO, were Sadie Creese – Professor of Cyber Security, University of Oxford; David Patraiko, BSc, MBA, FNI – Director of Projects, The Nautical Institute; Andrew Fitzmaurice – CEO of cyber-security training company Templar Executives; William Maclachlan, of law firm Holman Fenwick Willan; and Stephen Wares – Cyber Risk Practice Leader-EMEA, Marsh.
