How cyber security can improve your marine operations

The positive benefits of establishing a resilient cyber security posture go beyond ensuring you are less susceptible to a cyber attack. Our holistic approach looks at prevention and recovery – how you get a vessel’s systems back up and running as quickly as possible as in the example above.

It’s important to think in terms of a technical failure rather than a cyber attack. The problem that people face is that the moment we start to talk about cyber security they think of the classical image of the hooded hacker. Something mysterious and difficult to understand. It is not and the nomenclature makes it seem complicated which creates unhelpful barriers to understanding and adoption.

Cyber security is just another operational issue. Think about it in the usual safety, functional and commercial terms. It’s no different to all the other day-to-day procedures and compliances that are required to keep a vessel operating safely and efficiently.

Of course, cyber threats are complex and difficult to understand for non-specialists. The good news is that most of it is not difficult if you have the right approach and the right partner to support you.

Now let me tell you a bit about Neptune Cyber what we do and, importantly, what we are about. We are marine cyber security specialists – that is all we do. Yes, of course, we are tech geeks but we always try to keep things simple because we know that other people are not. Our team is made up of experts in cyber security, shipbuilding and operations. Combining this knowledge means that we properly understand the commercial, operational and regulatory challenges faced by the marine industry and how they can impact upon cyber security. The advice and solutions we deliver are implementable, will not disrupt operations and are founded in real-world insight into what is commercially viable for your specific needs.

The way we work is to add value to ease the pain of that buying decision. Now I realise we are selling something that people really don’t want to buy but they know they have to because the threat is real and regulation requires it.

It is important to realise that simply implementing a cyber security technology solution or adding policy documents to your SMS is not a magic bullet. You need to take the time to work with potential vendors to talk through your specific needs – not what the sales person wants to sell you – to make you more secure.

Every business in the marine industry strives to maintain and maximise the resilience of their business. Remember, ask the “what if” question. The best approach to cyber security ensures those questions are asked and answers are provided. And that’s why I believe that this approach to implementing cyber security is such great value.