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Security Awareness News

04 Nov 2021

Maritime Cybersecurity: Prepare, Detect and Respond

© pinkeyes / Adobe Stock

At a time when the world has become more aware than ever before about the vital importance of the world’s ocean shipping fleet, which carried supplies, merchandise and much needed personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increased risk from a different threat, cyberattacks, presents a set of new challenges. According to Israeli cybersecurity specialist Naval Dome, since February 2020, there has been a 400% increase in attempted hacks on the maritime realm


20 Jul 2020

Profiles in Training: Marcus Cheesman, Founder, Seven Seas Preparatory Academy

Marcus Cheesman, Founder, Seven Seas Preparatory Academy

Marcus Cheesman started his maritime training in 1987 at the early age of 13, attending Trinity House Navigation School, the UK’s only Nautical school. Upon graduation he was selected for a deck cadet apprenticeship with P&O Cruises and continued to progress through the ranks with P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line (including Windstar Cruises) and Disney Cruise Line, ultimately obtaining his Master Mariners license in 2002. He has piloted vessels on the busy River Humber based in his home town Hull


15 May 2020

Profiles in Maritime Training: Martyn Thomas, Chief of Staff, Stream Marine Training Ltd. (SMT)

Martyn Thomas is the Chief of Staff at Stream Marine Training Ltd (SMT Ltd.)

Martyn Thomas is the Chief of Staff at Stream Marine Training Ltd (SMT Ltd.) following many years working for both global training providers and cruise companies. SMT is a maritime skills and technology business providing fire-fighting, sea survival, survival craft and HSE training to the global maritime, oil and gas, renewables and construction industries.Thomas works out of SMT’s head office in Glasgow where SMT trains the majority of its theoretical based courses, including Alternative Fuels


12 Feb 2018

Interview: Terry MacRae - CEO, HMS Global Maritime

Terry MacRae, President & Chief Executive Officer, HMS Global Maritime

Terry MacRae founded Hornblower Yachts, LLC (doing business as Hornblower Cruises & Events) in 1980, and serves as Chief Executive Officer, the President and is also its owner. MacRae is the Co-founder of HMS Global Maritime and the American Queen Steamboat Company, and serves as Chief Executive Officer of Alcatraz Cruises, LLC, Statue Cruises, LLC, Hornblower Canada Co., Hornblower Cable Cars, Inc. and HNY Ferry, LLC (doing business as NYC Ferry). He leads one of the largest and fastest growing charter, dining cruise, and ferry operating companies in the nation.

27 Dec 2017

Maritime Cyber Security: The Wrong Formula

© newrossosh / Adobe Stock

For many industries, cyber security is about target hardening and perimeter defense. This makes sense, as cyber security is implemented in much the same way that physical security is implemented. We often think of it in terms of the medieval castle design, which translates to defense in depth in modern vernacular. This formula makes sense, as we can see and touch perimeter defense in physical security. We have seen and are comfortable with things such as fencing, ingress and egress areas (think doors, drives, sidewalks), guard stations, and cameras. We like thinks we can see and touch.

15 Nov 2017

Maritime Cyber Security: The Wrong Formula

© leeyiutung / Adobe Stock

For many industries, cyber security is about target hardening and perimeter defense. This makes sense, as cyber security is implemented in much the same way that physical security is implemented. We often think of it in terms of the medieval castle design, which translates to defense in depth in modern vernacular. This formula makes sense, as we can see and touch perimeter defense in physical security. We have seen and are comfortable with things such as fencing, ingress and egress areas (think doors, drives, sidewalks), guard stations and cameras. We like things we can see and touch.

17 Oct 2017

Liberian Registry Offers Cyber/Ship Security Training

The Liberian Registry has launched a Cyber and Ship Security Computer-Based Training (CBT) program that provides an overview of cyber-security issues, including concepts such as malware, network security, identity theft, risk management and other common threats to maritime security. Jorgen Palmbak, Director of Maritime Security for the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR), the U.S.-based manager of the Liberian Registry, said, “Cyber-attacks have been identified as among the most serious emerging threats to the security of today’s shipping industry. Over 40 percent of crew members have reportedly sailed on a vessel that has become infected with a virus or malware - and only 1 in 8 crew members have received cyber-security training.

19 Sep 2017

IMO for Spreading Cyber Security

Cyber security awareness on board ships plays an important role in ensuring the safety and security of shipping around the globe. International Maritime Organization (IMO) has issued Guidelines on maritime cyber risk management, in addition to a resolution on Maritime Cyber Risk Management in Safety Management Systems – adopted by the Organization's Maritime Safety Committee in June this year. To help spread knowledge and use of these high-level recommendations – IMO has taken part in the "Sub Regional Workshop on Critical Infrastructure Protection: Cybersecurity and Border Protection" in Panama City, Panama September 13-15. IMO's Henrik Madsen participated in the event


13 Apr 2017

Your Ship Has Probably Been Cyber Attacked

Image: ECDIS Ltd

You have either been hacked... or just didn’t know you have been hacked. I predict that the first catastrophic maritime cyber incident will not be the result of a direct attack on a safety critical specific piece of equipment. It will be the result of an infection on a random PC, perhaps an unassuming email to a crew member, whose PC is either connected to the vessels internal super highway or he transmits the infection internally whilst it lies dormant. Crypto locker, or Ransomware software (used by thousands of hackers)


27 Jan 2017

Insights: Margo Marks -President, Beaver Island Boat Company

Margo S. Marks

Margo S. Marks is President/General Manager of Beaver Island Boat Company, Beaver Island, Mich. The company has provided passenger, vehicle and freight services, between Beaver Island and Charlevoix, Mich. since 1984. The first ferry service to the island began in 1890. B.I. Boat Company operates two subchapter K vessels with a capacity of up to 294 passengers and 16 vehicles on the larger vessel, and 172 passengers and 9 vehicles on the smaller vessel. Notably, Margo has deep roots in the Gresat Lakes community and graduated from the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in 1983


19 Aug 2016

Piracy on the Rise in Malacca and Singapore Straits

According to PGI’s Risk Portal, there were at least 81 incidents of piracy or attempted piracy in or around the Singapore and Malacca Straits between April 2015 and April 2016. The majority of these incidents have occurred on the western approach to the narrow waterway, indicative of the heightened risk of piracy in surrounding waters. The actual number of incidents is likely higher, given that many are thought to go unreported. The high-level of piracy in surrounding waters presents security considerations for travel to and from Singapore’s port. Protection Vessels International Comment: Levels of piracy in the Singapore Strait region have continued to increase since 2015 with a spike of attacks on vessels while underway.

26 Jan 2016

Interview: Dave Anderson, President, Passenger Vessel Association

Dave Anderson

Dave Anderson is the President of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA). He also serves as General Manager/Director of Operations of Fire Island Ferries, Inc., Bay Shore, N.Y. on Long Island. The company has provided passenger service, freight service and water taxi service to Fire Island communities since 1948. The firm operates 23 subchapter T and K vessels ranging from six to 400 passengers. Anderson, an honors graduate from CW Post Long Island University where he earned his BA in Communication Arts in 1984, also holds a 100 ton Masters license which he earned in 1983.

30 Nov 2015

Top 10 Cyber Security Issues for Oil & Gas Industry

(Press Release) With the exploitation of new cost-effective operational concepts, use of digital technologies and increased dependence on cyber structures, the oil and gas industry is exposed to new sets of vulnerabilities and threats. Cyber-attacks have grown in stature and sophistication, making them more difficult to detect and defend against, and costing companies increasing sums of money to recover from. DNV GL delivering today a study to the Lysne Committee (Lysneutvalget1) that reveals the top ten most pressing cyber security vulnerabilities for companies operating offshore Norway. “Headline cyber security incidents are rare, but a lot of lesser attacks go undetected or unreported as many organizations do not know that someone has broken into their systems.

13 Jul 2015

Videotel Secures NMA Approval

Videotel, the leading international provider of e-Learning maritime training solutions and a company of KVH Industries, Inc., has received the approval of the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) for its security training courses. Videotel’s “Maritime Security Awareness,” “Designated Security Duties,” and “Shipboard Security Officer” training courses have been approved in their entirety by the NMA for meeting the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) codes, and seafarers completing these courses will receive the necessary qualifications and certificates for shipboard duty. The NMA approval enhances Videotel’s reputation with Norwegian ship owners, ship managers, and the offshore sector, which are guided by the Authority on maritime issues.

28 Aug 2018

Combatting Maritime Cyber Security Threats

Vulnerable to Hacking What should concern many in the maritime industry is that the main ship navigation systems including GPS, AIS and ECDIS receive data via radio frequency transmission at sea and as such are extremely  vulnerable to hacking.

The U.S. Executive Branch has declared that the cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation, and that America’s economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on effective cyber security. Before the maritime industry sounds the danger signal, it needs to monitor other industries and branches of the government and take proactive preventative measures. There is no better place to prepare future and current mariners for these challenges than in maritime simulators.

10 Jun 2015

Plenty of Phish in the Sea

“There is the potential for a major cyber-attack on the maritime industry to significantly disrupt food and energy supplies,” says ESCGS head of cyber security, Joseph Carson. (Photo: ESC Global Security)

Advancement in broadband technologies and the move toward ‘Big Data’ will leave the maritime industry vulnerable to cyber-crime unless it develops a better awareness of ICT security and adopts security best practice, warns ESC Global Security’s head of cyber security division, Joseph Carson. “There is the potential for a major cyber attack on the maritime industry to significantly disrupt food and energy supplies given that shipping transports 90 percent of the world’s global trade.

07 Jan 2015

Insights: Johan Roos, Interferry's Executive Director of EU and IMO Affairs

Johan Roos

Johan Roos is Interferry’s executive director of European Union and IMO affairs based in Brussels, Belgium. He took up the newly created regulatory affairs post in September 2011 after previously serving as director of sustainability with Sweden’s Stena Rederi AB. He holds a masters degree in environmental sciences from the University of Gothenburg. In 2000, he left classification society DNV to join ferry operator Stena Line to develop internal environmental management systems and for many years, he was in charge of sustainability issues for all of the Stena group’s shipping activities.

27 Oct 2014

Maritime Terrorist Attacks ‘Increasingly Likely’

Shipping in general and oil tankers in particular should increase levels of security to counter the threat of an increasingly likely terrorist attack, maritime security company MAST has warned. The company issued the warning after Al-Qaeda insinuated it could execute strategic attacks on chokepoints of oil shipments in its first issue of “Resurgence,” an English-language digital propaganda magazine posted to the terrorist group’s online forum Shamikh1.info. Whilst ISIS activity has been more recently featured in the western media, the resurgence of Al-Qaeda and affiliate organizations is occurring alongside some of the worlds’ most strategically vulnerable and crowded waterways.

15 Jul 2014

New Ship Security Officer Training

Rood Boven Groen has increased its training portfolio by adding the third security training: Ship Security Officer according to STCW’78 including the 2010 Manila amendments. This course has been recently approved by the Netherlands Shipping Institute. Last year the IMO training Security Awareness and Designated Security Duties conducted by Rood Boven Groen were approved as well. These two trainings are included in the Ship Security Officer course as per IMO specifications. Rood Boven Groen included many practical exercises using the Ship Security Plan and de ISPS Code to make the dry matter easier digestible. The participants described the course as ‘lively’, ‘educational’ and ‘fun’.

04 Jun 2014

Marlins Security eLearning Goes Global

The U.K. MCA have granted approval to Marlins for their new STCW eLearning courses, resulting in further expansion of Marlins’ international Approved Test Centre network. The 2010 Manila amendments to the STCW Convention came into effect in 2012 and included a new requirement, Section A-VI/6. This requires all crew, whether deck, engine/technical, hotel, superyacht or concession, to undergo security awareness training. Crew members with specific security duties must also study and gain certification for additional topics. Marlins STCW security courses allow students to learn remotely online, at their own pace. Study material is graphical and interactive, including mini assessments throughout, to check understanding.

13 Jan 2014

Security Duties eLearning Course Now Flag Approved

Photo courtesy of Marlins

Marlins reported that its second security elearning title, Security Duties, has been flag approved, further to the flag approval of the company’s Security Awareness course in December. Security Duties expands on what is learnt in Security Awareness and provides additional, practical information for crew members who are more likely to face a security threat, such as bridge watchkeepers or gangway staff. STCW defines these individuals as sea staff with designated duties. Both courses


09 Dec 2013

Videotel Security Training MCA Approved

Videotel has been granted MCA approval on a new training suite designed to meet the forthcoming STCW rules on Ship Security Training. From January 1, 2014, security training will fall into three categories, in that all seafarers must demonstrate an understanding of the security threats to their vessels whatever their role. Prior to this, security related training was a requirement only for the Ship Security Officer. The Videotel Ship Security Officer course, which complies with STCW Reg. VI/5 Sect.

12 Nov 2013

EU-funded R&D Delivers Enhanced Port Security

A new Port Security Management System (PSMS) will be introduced for the first time by Henk van Unnik of Tosepo in London on 13-14 November 2014. PSMS is an interactive real time dynamic web-based dashboard that will help maritime and logistics professionals assess and improve overall port security. PSMS has been developed as part of SUPPORT (Security UPgrade for PORTs) which is co-ordinated by BMT Group and part-funded by the EC's FP7 Security Research Programme. Henk van Unnik commented:  “The PSMS is unique.