MARITIME CYBER RESILIENCE – THE ROLE OF CYBER SECURITY IN PROTECTING SHIPS AND SHORE-BASED SYSTEMS FROM ATTACK Published: 2 July 2024 The threat of malicious cyber attacks poses an ongoing and increasing risk to ships and the shore-based systems that support them. The cost of cyber attacks worldwide is startling, with global costs from cyber crime predicted to exceed USD 10 trillion by 2025. Although shipping remains a small part of this total, cyber attacks in the maritime industry are becoming increasingly costly. Recent data shows that a cyber attack now costs the targeted organisation an average of USD 550,000. This is not a new threat, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) recognised this and in January 2021 mandated the integration of cyber risk management into a company’s Safety Management System (SMS). This need for cyber risk management was further clarified by ‘Guidelines on Maritime Cyber Risk Management’, with the latest version published by the IMO in June 2022. Technological advances are progressing rapidly. Achieving the potential gains in efficiency, operations, and safety requires a high degree of connectivity between ships and external services. The challenge lies in protecting ships, without restricting the benefits a connected ship brings. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY The use of computerised systems on board a ship can effectively be split into two separate functions, Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). IT can be considered the typical office functions that take place on board ships; this may include the email communication and data reporting/sharing that companies use. As this technology has a longer history and experience of being connected to external sources and transmitting data, cyber security safeguards are better understood, and personnel are more alert to the associated hazards. OT, on the other hand, is what controls many of the ships systems, such as the main engine control, or dyna