The U.S. maritime industry poorly prepared for cyber threats

Worth reading today: a study published by Jones Walker LLP on maritime cybersecurity in the United States.

The survey, conducted among 126 U.S. executives, indicates that 38% of them confirmed having experienced either successful intrusions (10%) or attempted intrusions (28%). The remainder may simply not have detected them, you might say—which is not an unreasonable assumption.

While 69% of respondents expressed confidence in the overall preparedness of the maritime sector, only 36% believe that their own company is adequately prepared. The most concerning results come from small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector, 94% of which consider themselves poorly prepared.

Of course, everything depends on what is meant by “preparedness.” In practice, cyber insurance appears to be gaining significant traction in the United States.

Other figures worth noting:

• 99% of participants believe they have inventoried all their applications (are you sure?)
• 45% report having encrypted Wi-Fi networks
• Only 17% have resilient communication networks

Regarding the human factor, 50% of small and medium-sized companies in the sector do not require cybersecurity awareness or training for their staff, compared with 97% among large companies.

Companies currently allocate around 1–2% of their budgets to cybersecurity, and this share is expected to increase for 92% of small companies and 59% of large ones.

Ultimately, companies primarily look for solutions that offer the best return on investment—which is understandable.

An article here:
https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/maritime-security/survey-finds-u-s-maritime-industry-unprepared-for-cyber-attacks/

Full survey results:
https://sites-communications.joneswalker.com/38/990/landing-pages/2018-maritime-cybersecurity-survey-landing-page-only-(v1).asp