North P&I Club has joined a collaboration between shipping industry leaders to combat cyber criminals by committing to the CSO Alliance’s global information and reporting platform for digital attacks.
The new information and reporting platform will provide best practice operational procedures, advice on handling incidents, and real time information on cyber and other crime. The website will also provide an anonymous reporting platform which is currently under development.
Cybercrime is a rapidly growing global threat in all industries and shipping is not immune. Digital risks have industry-wide implications, and strength in numbers is the best defence against a threat that is dynamic, rapidly evolving, and multiplies when a weakness is identified, according to North P&I Club.
“A maritime cyber-crime reporting portal can help cyber-attacks to be identified early and hinder their propagation by alerting users to their presence. Sharing cyber security information will require a move away from shipping’s traditional preference for privacy but the question is ‘Can the industry afford not to share?’” Colin Gillespie, Deputy Director (Loss Prevention) North P&I, said.
“We need to work together with CSO Alliance and its members towards its goal of ‘Security through community.’ The launch of the Cyber Alliance is a welcome and timely development that complements the CSO Alliance,” Gillespie added.