In 2017, awareness of cyber incidents in the shipping and maritime industry became a mainstream, and no longer a minority, issue. 2018 is a year where these issues will clearly be at the forefront for members of the industry, as well as regulators, policy makers and insurers. We can see this rapidly evolving issue steadily becoming more visible.
A watershed moment
Two incidents last year made it quite clear that the shipping industry does not have special dispensation from the risks of cyber incidents. Indeed, given the pace of change and modernisation within the sector, it may actually be uniquely exposed. The industry has made significant advances in navigation systems and introduced pilot programmes around crewless ships in the last ten years. Despite the rapid change of pace within the industry, many risk managers still think of shipping as essentially ‘low tech’. While that is beginning to change, true understanding of the evolving risks in the sector is still lagging behind.
When the world’s largest container shipping company Maersk – which has 88,000 employees…
