As the maritime industry becomes increasingly digitalised, cyber-threats pose a severe risk to fleet operations, and cybersecurity emerges as a top business concern. SSA’s Maritime Cyber Resilience Forum shared with attendees the available tools that companies can leverage to build their cyber resilience and mitigate cyber risks.
The Need for Cyber Insurance
Ship owners are increasingly seeking protection for potential financial losses in the event of operational disruptions, data breaches and physical damage caused by increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. As traditional marine insurance coverage typically lacks this coverage, the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) initiated the development of the SCISSOR initiative to help industry players and the insurance community work together to address this gap.
The SCISSOR initiative comprises of SCISSOR Index and SCISSOR Insurance, with the aim of educating and protecting ship owners and operators from cyber risks:
- SCISSOR Index, or the cybersecurity scorecard, allows them to gain insights into their fleet’s cyberhealth – areas that require improvement, system updates, firewalls etc.
- SCISSOR Insurance, comprising of a request-to-quote platform and balance sheet protection to shipowners, covering cyber threats holistically.
A simple demonstration was shown how quickly and easy it was to submit an insurance quote request via the SCISSOR Insurance portal. Attendees were also shown a sample of the SCISSOR Index, including sample questions from the questionnaire, which are based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity framework, and a sample of the results, which included industry benchmarking.
Building A Human Firewall
As cyber threats evolve in frequency and complexity, companies are seeing the need to invest in their workforce, equipping them with the necessary skills to navigate a digital landscape. The cyber risk also extends beyond shore-based operations, as seen by the surge of GPS spoofing and jamming cases that pose significant risks to vessel and crew safety.
With a growing demand for maritime cybersecurity personnel, SSA, alongside Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), will launch an Operational Technology (OT) Cybersecurity course for the shipping industry. With the knowledge of how OT systems work, the course will enable vessel and fleet IT managers to communicate with the technical department, creating a holistic cybersecurity program that covers both IT and OT systems onboard the fleet.
Navigating the New Regulatory Landscape
The seminar also delved into the regulatory requirements, including when the rules are in force, the scope and who will be affected.
This included the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) regulation, that will enter into force on 11 December 2024, with reporting obligations to start on 11 September 2026. This will be mandatory for products with digital elements, such as consumer goods to industrial components, or goods that are connected to another device or network which includes hardware, software and ancillary services.
Thank you to our speakers for their insightful sharing:
- Eric Chen from CyberOwl
- Jennifer Gray from Price Forbes
- Albert Santiago from Norstar Group of Companies
- Jonathan Chin from Fortinet
- Zan Lim from Athena Dynamics
- Robert Dorey from Astaara
- Koh Wei Chien from Bureau Veritas
The session ended with a Q&A session, facilitated by Vice-Chair of the Digitalisation committee Mr. Joey Chua, where attendees expressed concerns on data security and the under-reporting of cyber incidents within the maritime community.
“Let’s take action to transfer all these risks to opportunities and advantages,” said Mr. Joey Chua in his closing remark, urging attendees to capitalize on the available tools to build their cyber resilience and competitiveness of their operations.
A big thank you to our sponsor Fortinet Singapore, for their generous support.
To access the SCISSOR Insurance, please visit https://scissor-insurance.sg/.
For expert underwriting advice from Astaara, please write to scissor@astaaragroup.com.
To access the SCISSOR Index, please visit https://www.scissor.sg/
And to check out our full training schedule, please visit https://www.ssa.org.sg/courses-calendar/
For photos of the event, please click here.
