Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2021

1 2 8 “ We can help our customers understand where they have gaps and identify critical risks and priorities” M any organisations will experience a cyberattack of some kind in their lifetime. According to cybersecurity firm PurpleSec, cybercrime has increased by 600 per cent due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Cybersecurity risks are present during all activities of cruise and ferry organisations,” says Santiago Jaramillo, cybersecurity product manager at Speedcast. “There are also risks associated with customer-facing operations, such as travel booking systems where customers’ personal data is stored.” Privacy and security are not the only concerns for cruise operators though. “With today’s sophisticated attacks, cybercriminals only need to find one weakness in an organisation’s system and its operations can be shut down in seconds,” says Jaramillo. “With many potentially vulnerable systems, such as the navigation equipment, successful cyberattacks not only damage the cruise and ferry operators financially, but they also interrupt business operations and cause long-lasting damage to a business’s reputation.” But with cyberattacks constantly evolving, Jaramillo believes businesses need to establish a solid company-wide cybersecurity strategy to mitigate any current or future risk. “The Speedcast approach is to help support organisational transformation to drive awareness, engagement and responsibility across various areas of the business to ensure there are no weak spots,” he explains. To deliver this, Speedcast has partnered with HudsonCyber to create a joint CyberInsights solution. “With this posture assessment, we can help our customers understand where they have gaps and identify critical risks and priorities,” says Jaramillo. “It also helps customers to meet complex compliance and regulatory requirements without extensive costs, or internal resources and expertise.” CFR Santiago Jaramillo of Speedcast tells Elly Yates-Roberts how cybercrime can affect cruise and ferry operators, and how Speedcast is there to help Shipping security INTERV IEW