Cyber Security Threats to the Maritime Transportation System

July 2016
John Bos gave a presentation on “Cyber Security Threats to the Maritime Transportation System (MTS)” at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland

Despite the recent years’ NSA spying revelations, numerous international malware attacks and North Koreas’ hacking of Sony Pictures, maritime cyber-security is not an issue at the forefront of many ship-owners and managers minds.

However, whilst the maritime industry might not seem a likely target, reports of successful cyber-attacks are not unknown. Take, for example, the Port of Antwerp, where hackers working with a drug-smuggling gang repeatedly breached digital tracking systems to locate containers holding large quantities of drugs. They then dispatched their own drivers to retrieve the containers ahead of the scheduled collection time.