PRESS / GENERAL RELEASES
Industry publishes new and improved cyber security guidelines
23 December 2020
23 December 2020
For immediate release
Industry publishes new and improved cyber security guidelines
The fourth edition of the industry cyber risk management guidelines, Guidelines on Cyber Security Onboard Ships is now available and lays the foundation for further improvements and refinement of companies’ cyber security risk assessments.
You can download the guidelines here
The fourth version of the cyber security guidelines is published at a time when shipowners and ship managers must implement cyber risk management in their safety management systems (SMS) by the time of their first Document of Compliance audit after 1 January 2021. While the previous version (version 3 dated November 2018) offered the necessary guidance for the initial work of implementing cyber risk management in the SMS, the new version contains several improvements.
“In recent years, the industry has been subjected to several significant incidents which have had a severe financial impact on the affected companies,” says Dirk Fry, chair the cyber security working group and Director of Columbia Ship Management Ltd.
“While these incidents have had little or no safety impact, they have taught us some very important lessons which have been incorporated into the new version of the guidelines,” adds Fry.
The fourth version contains general updates to best practices, and as a key feature, includes a section with improved guidance on the concept of risk and risk management. The improved risk model takes into consideration the threat as the product of capability, opportunity, and intent, and explains the likelihood of a cyber incident as the product of vulnerability and threat. Thus, the improved risk model offers explanation as to why still relatively few safety-related incidents have unfolded in the maritime industry, but also why this should not be misinterpreted and make shipping companies lower their guard.
”With the increased connection of devices and systems to the internet, more opportunities will present themselves and more vulnerabilities in need of safeguarding will emerge in the future,” says Fry.
“Cyber security is an arms race between the attackers and the defenders, where the attacker has the luxury of first choice of weapon. Because we can never be 100% secure in such circumstances, we must extract all the learnings we can from past events. We should be capable of quickly recovering from incidents because we know they will most likely occur at some point. Drawing on the most recent experiences from the industry and beyond, the new version of the guidelines will help us achieve just that.”
INTERTANKO’s Marine Director Dr Phillip Belcher said: “Cyber criminals continue to refine and improve their attacks and so the industry must adapt to any new threat. The new guidelines should assist vessels in their efforts to thwart cyber criminals, improve security on board and respond to the new regulations. In conducting this work we must thank Dirk Fry for his efforts in chairing the group and the BIMCO secretariat for facilitating much of it.”
The following organisations collaborated to produce the fourth edition:
BIMCO, Chamber of Shipping of America, Digital Containership Association, International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO), Interferry, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), INTERMANAGER, International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO), International Marine Contractors’ Association (IMCA), International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI), Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF), Superyacht Builders Association (Sybass), and World Shipping Council (WSC).
The work was further supported by:
Class NK, Cyberowl, Cygnus Technologies, Cobham SATCOM, Maersk, Maritime Transportation System Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MTS-ISAC), Moran Cyber, and Templar Executives.
For further information or to request an interview, please contact:
Phil Belcher – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.