New Study: Hacking danger for ships and harbours

Two U.S. universities organized a major maritime cyber security event and had 50 big players of the maritime industry analyzed by the security company CyberKeel. The Danish security company discovered that 37% of Microsoft Web Servers had not been patched in time and could have been easily hacked.

The magazine Splash 24/7 interviewed CyberKeel and learned that vulnerable sites included three major container carriers: MSC, Hapag Lloyd and Hamburg Süd. Furthermore, important systems at a number of ports are at risk (e.g. the vessel traffic management system in Gothenburg and the main site of the Copenhagen Port Authority). Just 12 hours after patch release, initial public guidelines were found, explaining how to attack unpatched web servers to take them over.

US maritime cybersecurity event

The maritime industry has yet to find the right processes and tools to analyze the many different types of cyber threats and possible risks, and should be reminded of the big impact on nations and economies in a worst-case scenario.

TThe analysis of the 50 major maritime websites took part in a cyber security event that was organized by the American Military University and Command, Control, and Interoperability Center for Advanced Data Analysis (CCICADA) at Rutgers University.

CyberKeel CEO Lars Jensen told Splash24/7, “complex systems, such as those provided by Microsoft, are often in need of software patching to plug security holes. Companies need their IT departments to be able to quickly install software patches, as the hacker community operates on decidedly short time frames.” Jensen also stated that during the symposium, USCG Vice Admiral Charles Michel “told of an incident whereby a hacker brought a port on the U.S. eastern seaboard to a standstill.”

Read the full article at NetworkWorld.com.

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