U.S. Maritime Cyberattack and Ransomware
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24th July 2020
U.S. Maritime Cyberattack and Ransomware
Introduction
Cyber attacks in American marine have affected many companies in losing over an average of $17.36 million annually due to cyberattacks. Cybersecurity in the U.S. maritime has increased due to the socio-political tension with foreign countries. It is imperative to understand the reasons and implications of ransomware and cyberattacks in the maritime industry. The effect of Maritime getting attacked has led to significant economic losses and information breach. The research aims to evaluate maritime cybersecurity and identify the various threats that influence naval operations and activities. The research question, How would the U.S. maritime industry reduce cyber and ransomware attacks? Numerous cyberattack incidents occurred in America that proved inadequate security from hackers and aspects of ransomware (Chang et al., 2019). The hypothesis is that if there is increased cybersecurity in the U.S. maritime industry, then it would ensure low economic loss and ransomware attacks. The American maritime industry includes the cyber attacks that are caused by a lack of training and preparedness of the experts. Secondly is the use of an outdated system in the industry that has made U.S. maritime vulnerable to internal and external attacks, and lastly, is the risk of being hacker’s target. The need for mitigation strategies in solving the aspect of cyber attacks and ransomware would be able to improve the cybersecurity process through providing the best cybersecurity training courses to experts, regular updating and upgrading of software program, and improving the cybersecurity climate and international relations with other nations to avoid being targets.
Literature review
Maritime Transportation
America’s Marine Transportation System, also known as the ( MTS ) involves the expansive waterways and ports in which assists in the transportation of people and cargo. There are also land-side connections in which promotes the movement of passengers as well as goods to and from the American coastal waters. The MTS entails around 25,000 miles of navigable channels, which shows that the marine system is vast. In the U.S., the primary elements of maritime transportation involve the port infrastructure and the canals, which require optimal security. Author Tucci (2017) contend that cyber incidents adversely impacts the lives of individuals at sea and the ports. Compromised marine navigation system usually threatens lives, and pus the environment in danger. The author explains the implication of the vulnerability of the maritime industry in the U.S. and how the loss of property and money gets lost, thus profoundly disrupting the typical trade activities. The need to address security concerns by the U.S. Coast Guards ensure long sustainable security measures and strategies that would withstand cyber attacks and address other security risks in the marine transportation system (MTS). Whenever there are ample safety measures, t promotes international trade, which encourages ship and vessel operators to feel safe. The need for U.S. marine to establish regular risk assessments and viable mitigation process would make the American waters free from cyber-related threats.
Moreover, the State and local governments have the mandate to contribute to the success of the security maintenance process through information sharing. Engagement of authorities through Maritime Security Committees and meetings, even forums, gives the government opportunity to address cyber risks. The waterways infrastructure in the maritime industry is one of the integral elements in which ensures there is safe vessel movement at sea under the protection of the U.S. coast guards. The hijacking mitigation of the port infrastructure is imperative as it entails protecting the port operations and warehousing information (Marks, 2017).
The Maritime Administration’s (MARAD)
Kessler, Craiger, and Haass (2018) posit that the maritime transportation system tends to experiences an increase in target cyber-attacks that affect the industry’s safety. The authors support the need for adversarial cyber models in which would ensure optimal maritime industry as well as risk mitigation and resiliency plans, which reduce cyber attacks. The purpose is to foster the development of the U.S. maritime industry with the intent to meet the various country’s economic and security needs. There is a need for the United States to increase cybersecurity on its strategic sealift capabilities so that it would ensure ships to deploy their military forces without getting hijacked. Some of the strategic sealift involves the Government-owned as well as private vessels that do business and trade under the U.S.-flag. The U.S. government also depends on the Mariners and the intermodal systems that support infrastructure transport. The challenges of the port infrastructure in the U.S. has reduced the capacity to handle cargo movement at sea, which affects commerce. There is a need for significant improvements to the multimodal transportation infrastructure so that it would reduce the level of congestion, which leads to delay in transportation. Port effectiveness and efficiency act as interfaces between water and land-based activities and movements.
Ransomware attack at U.S. maritime base
In 2019, there was a virus attack on the American maritime industry in which implied that cyber-attacks and online hacking poses a threat to the U.S. coast guards. It is a fact to understand cybersecurity in America is re required, and it is their mandate to ensure that there is no interference. The hackers demanded money for the restoration of the system of $14m (£10.6m). There are a lot of external hijacked servers that affect businesses in the marine industry. The online hacking has led to getting port transportation system vulnerable to ransomware. China and North Korea have been neck to neck with the United stated in technological supremacy, which has led to international tension and hostility. The new mode of attacks is the cyber wars which can cripple communication and transportation systems.
According to Jones et al., 2016 asserts that due to the technological change and the vast innovation in cybercrimes, there has been a lot of vulnerability that impacts the security of the maritime transportation system in the United States. The author further explains the securing of private and public owned vessels at sea requires optimal cybersecurity to avoid online hijacks for information and goods. Compromised vessel tends to lose data and control of their operations. Maritime-related systems are at high risk of getting attacked by ransomware, especially their navigation systems. There is a need for more cybersecurity measures for propulsion, and cargo-related functionality in which the U.S. government should invest to avoid future hacks. Recently this year, U.S. Coast Guard admitted that there was a ransomware attack that affected the whole facility. The lack of detection of the USCG has led to ransomware intrusion, which out the U.S. marine safety at risk. The need for the proper establishment of marine safety alert would prevent previous Ryuk ransomware attacks that penetrated an I.T. facility network of a Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA). https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.silicon.co.uk/security/cyberwar/ransomware-us-coast-guard-326285/amp
References
Chang, C. H., Wenming, S., Wei, Z., Changki, P., & Kontovas, C. A. (2019, November). Evaluating cybersecurity risks in the maritime industry: a literature review. In Proceedings of the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU) Conference.
Tucci, A. E. (2017). Cyber risks in the marine transportation system. In Cyber-Physical Security (pp. 113-131). Springer, Cham.
Jones, K. D., Tam, K., & Papadaki, M. (2016). Threats and impacts in maritime cyber security.
Kessler, G. C., Craiger, J. P., & Haass, J. C. (2018). A Taxonomy Framework for Maritime Cybersecurity: A Demonstration Using the Automatic Identification System. TransNav: International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, 12(3), 429.
Marks, M. (2017). The U.S. Passenger Vessel Industry. Coast Guard Journal of Safety & Security at Sea, Proceedings of the Marine Safety & Security Council, 74(1).
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.silicon.co.uk/security/cyberwar/ransomware-us-coast-guard-326285/amp