Coast Guard Not Ready to Protect Maritime Cybersecurity

Yet another challenge for the new administration. In the face of escalating cyber threats against the US maritime transportation system, the Coast Guard, which is responsible for maritime cybersecurity, doesn’t have a plan.

The GAO released a report on a year long study that says, basically, not ready for prime time.

The Russians, Chinese and others would enjoy disrupting US ports (which they did several times last year) and US waterways. This industry represents $5.4 trillion in commerce and 30 million jobs. Our adversaries would love to disrupt that if for no other reason than to embarrass us.

The Coast Guard is supposed to provide ship owners with threat intelligence and other technical security assistance as well as document any security flaws they find during inspections.

The Coast Guard did develop a strategy to address this in 2021, but it did not address national security (minor oversight) or set measurable success targets.

It also didn’t have an implementation budget, identify needed resources and did not say who would implement it. In other words, possibly okay for a draft of a college term paper but horrible to actually get anything done.

We have seen a number of successful cyberattacks which shut down ports and affected shipping. It is unlikely that the Chinese and others are just going to quit doing this.

Here is a scary thought:

Coast Guard officials and one nonfederal organization we met with told us that a cyberattack on OT used by a large vessel could cause that vessel to crash into a large bridge. This could result in an impact similar to the March 2024 non-cyber incident in which a major bridge in Baltimore, Maryland collapsed…Researchers from Rutgers University also raised the possibility of a cyberattack causing an explosion on a vessel carrying hazardous materials while docked in a facility… One nonfederal organization we met with told us that vessels could be lucrative targets for threat actors.

Given the administration’s hiring freeze and requirement to fire four people for everyone that is hired, it is unlikely that the Coast Guard is going to win this battle any time soon. Maybe they are waiting for another Francis Scott Key Bridge type incident to actually do anything.

Credit: The Register

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