Maritime

“With the continued digitisation of OT environments, vessels and ports face growing cyber risks. Add in rising regulatory duties and now’s the time to get your OT cyber strategy sailing.”

Maritime Cyber Security Challenges

Connected tech brings fleet efficiency, route optimization and profit—but also new vulnerabilities. Robust, proven cybersecurity practices aligned to industry needs and regulations are essential to protect gains.

Beyond technical hurdles, maritime players—OEMs and integrators—must embrace organizational change and open dialogue on OT cyber risks and mitigations.

Situational Awareness

Perception (What’s happening?)

An expanding attack surface from OT/IoT/IT convergence, connectivity, geographic and organizational complexity—compounded by weak OT risk management.

Comprehension (Why does it matter?)

As OT/IoT dependency grows in maritime, cybersecurity is critical for safe, resilient operations.
IMO Cyber Guidelines and IACS E26/E27 audits force proof of risk management. Non-conformance risks fines or license loss.

Maritime & Shipping Risk Management

For limited OT programs, we recommend a holistic, two-phase approach:

Phase 1 – Risk Identification & Prioritization
Identify critical OT functions (vessel ICS, dockside PLCs, port networks) and assess cyber impacts. Leverage custodians’ and engineers’ insights—architecture, access, third-party scope, supply chain, physical security.

Phase 2 – OT Cybersecurity Framework (OT-CSF)
Build a formal OT-CSF with policies, procedures and playbooks aligned to:

ISA/IEC 62443
NIST CSF
NERC-CIP
ISO/IEC 27001/27002/27019

At minimum, include:

Formal governance model (RACI)
End-to-end operating model
Regulatory compliance mapping
Asset inventory
Network diagrams
Incident response plan
Workforce training & awareness
Procedural controls (access, change, backup)
Performance monitoring & reporting

Supplement as OT maturity grows:

Internal assurance & self-assessments
External audits
Supplier cyber clauses
Network & threat monitoring
Asset monitoring & vulnerability detection
Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Finally, secure adequate budget, skills, vendor support and governance to sustain your OT program—reducing vulnerabilities and boosting resilience.