In recent years, the maritime industry has seen a significant evolution in the types of cyber threats it faces, with increasingly more targeted attacks, as opposed to ‘accidental’ attacks, and this inevitably means more risk for superyachts.
“The most well-known maritime cyber attack is probably the Maersk attack in 2017 as a result of the NotPetya malware, which was actually never meant to target the company or the industry,” explains Sponer. “However, we are seeing a rise of malware created specifically to target the maritime industry, for example incidents of attackers sending phishing emails with what appears to be an ECDIS update.”
With the high profile of many superyacht owners, this makes the industry more appealing from an attacker’s point of view. The other factor that makes superyachts particularly susceptible to cyber attacks is the complexity of the IT and OT systems onboard in comparison to other vessels.
“Superyachts have various systems onboard, such as entertainment systems, that are connected to the network of the vessel and also the Internet,” adds Sponer. “If security controls are not properly implemented, this can create…
