Suitable policies and procedures in place are the key to maintain cyber security on board, Satellite communications specialist IEC Telecom said, stressing the idea of separating the cooperate environment from crew environments.
Addressing Cyber Risk and Data Theft at this year’s Seatrade ShipTech Middle East conference, IEC Telecom Vice President Maritime Nabil Ben Soussia made it clear that defining the policy of a maritime firm is significant to meet its needs and operate efficiently, referring to the importance of raising crew awareness to implement good cyber practices.
Through Robban Assafina’s special interview with Ben Soussia during Seatrade 2019, he shed the light on the proper use of technology, as well as the proper implementation of systems and policies which allows to gain the advantages.
How do you think maritime sector firms are dealing with the cyber security issue?
Regulations are there in order to operate more efficiently, while answering the requirements of the market, but firms need to take responsibility and manage the risks. It’s a common ground you play on it, but you have to exceed it by implementing your own. It may differ from one company or market to another, because rules onboard differ according to the country, crew, environment, sub-contractors, all of that is taken into consideration, especially when we talk about cyber security. They need to redefine their rules to take account of cyber security.
What is the importance of constantly raising awareness of the crew on board?
We are having more and more data each day which is not just informative, but is the core of the corporation, that will generate an alarm or guide the crew. So we have to take care of securing this environment, and we have to continuously provide explanation and awareness. They need to fully understand cyber risk and correctly implement good cyber practices.
With all the cyber risks facing the new technology in the maritime sector, can you tell us more about IEC’s supportive role in this?
The more data on board, the more risks it brings to you. More things are depending on data and connection now, and that is where the probability of facing cyber risks increases. The main thing is that we understand where we are heading and what the ship needs. We come with solutions, separating on board networks (corporate & welfare environment), eliminating risk of contamination for critical operations. Having right solution is only a part of puzzle. To develop efficient system of on-board communications, we always request our customer to define their corporate network policy first, discuss their operations, so that we can answer their needs.
What about autonomous ships?
We are not playing with professional hackers. They have nothing to target on the vessel today. Even if nothing works, the captain will guide the ship. In the era of autonomous vessels, the nature of cyber threats will evolve too. What we need today is to make sure that we are putting right infrastructure in place in order to be able to respond to new cyber threats in future.
Do you think that ship owners find these solutions expensive?
We have to give the IT department more authority, not only to execute things, but to advise, to say what we can do more with technology. If you are presenting this technology with the same policies you have now, it is a waste of money. But if you take the advantages of this technology, you will be competitive in the market. For example, if a ship sails from the Middle East to operate in the North Sea, it will be out of the competition, because it is a few years behind comparing to the high-tech vessels sailing in the Scandinavian region.
No doubt that operational budget is price sensitive to many factors, such as fuel cost, maintenance, port charges etc. With righ technologies, vessel owners will save 30% of their expenses. But let’s say you have internet connection and you do not apply the root optimization to link for weather forecast, you will lose 3 times your money. IT departments should be engaged more into what else we can do in order to take the advantages.
Successful companies are companies that have an authorized IT department that performs direct communication with the managers.
