In its latest Maritime Security Threat Advisory (MSTA), Dryad Global noted that, pursuant to a 2024 Executive Order, the U.S. Coast Guard is strengthening cybersecurity measures for maritime commercial traffic and infrastructure.
“The U.S. government plans to invest more than $20 billion in U.S. port infrastructure over the next five years, requiring ships, facilities and ports to mitigate cyber risks, report incidents and control vessels that pose a threat to U.S. maritime infrastructure, and the Department of Homeland Security will oversee cybersecurity,” Dryad said in the MSTA released this week.
“The Coast Guard will be updating its maritime security regulations by establishing minimum cybersecurity requirements for U.S.-flagged vessels, outer continental shelf facilities, and facilities subject to the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002,” it added.
“To ensure compliance, private operators will need to modernize their cybersecurity infrastructure to address new threats,” Dryad said.
In April, the MSTA announced Dryad issued an “Electronic Warfare/Interference” warning. In the Red Sea, the company noted in its MSTA that electronic warfare could “target a vessel's navigational systems by falsely broadcasting GPS signals or spoofing the Automatic Identification System (AIS) or Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECS), disrupting systems used for positioning and navigation, and compromising the vessel's critical systems.”
In a fact sheet posted on its website on Feb. 21, the White House announced that the Biden-Harris administration would issue an executive order to “strengthen the security of the nation's ports, along with a series of additional actions to enhance maritime cybersecurity, harden supply chains, and strengthen America's industrial base.”
“America's prosperity is directly tied to maritime trade and the integrated network of ports, terminals, ships, waterways, and landside connections that make up the nation's Maritime Transportation System (MTS),” the fact sheet states.
“This complex system supports $5.4 trillion worth of economic activity each year, contributes to more than 31 million American jobs and carries approximately 95 percent of the cargo entering the United States,” it added.
“In an increasingly complex threat environment, the security of our critical infrastructure remains a national imperative. MTS owners and operators rely on digital systems to enable operations including vessel navigation, cargo movement, engineering, safety and security monitoring,” it continued.
“These systems have revolutionized the maritime industry and U.S. supply chains by increasing the speed and efficiency of moving goods to market, but the increasing digital interconnectedness of our economy and supply chains also creates vulnerabilities that, if exploited, could have cascading impacts on our ports, our economy, and the hardworking Americans who work there every day,” the fact sheet states.
In a release posted on its website last month, the White House said the Biden-Harris Administration has released “version 2” of its National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan, outlining steps the federal government is taking to improve the U.S. national cybersecurity posture.
“This updated roadmap describes 100 high-impact federal initiatives, each aimed at substantially increasing our collective digital security and systems resilience,” it added.
According to the White House website, the Biden-Harris Administration released a National Cybersecurity Strategy on March 2, 2023 to “maximize the benefits of a safe and secure digital ecosystem for all Americans.”
According to a fact sheet posted on the White House website in May 2021, the administration launched a “government-wide effort” to address the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline.
“The recent cyber attack targeting Colonial Pipeline has triggered a comprehensive federal response focused on securing our critical energy supply chain,” the document states.
“The Administration is focused on avoiding potential disruptions to energy supplies to affected communities, the U.S. military, and other facilities that rely on gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum products,” it added.
“The Administration continues to assess the impact of the pipeline closure on the U.S. fuel supply and what additional steps can be taken to mitigate the effects of the pipeline closure,” the statement continued.
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