Time to catch up

Matthew Montgomery, of Holman Fenwick Willan LLP, asks how the insurance industry can catch up with the cyber threat within the shipping industry and how shipping companies can best protect themselves against cyber attacks

Cyber security is increasingly in the media spotlight. There have been recent cyber attacks on governments, online service providers and retailers to name but a few. Every industry has an exposure to cyber attacks and the shipping industry, with its reliance on electronic devices to run operations, has been identified as being particularly vulnerable. A recent report published by a major insurer stated that there is a growing threat from criminals targeting vessels, by “abusing holes in cyber security”.