(WASHINGTON) — Coast Guard Cyber Command (CGCYBER) has announced the release of the second annual Cyber Trends and Insights in the Marine Environment report. The observations and findings in the report provide Coast Guard units and port partners with relevant information to identify and address cyber-risks.
The Coast Guard has a strong tradition of collaborating with owners and operators in the marine environment to provide relevant information about best practices to secure critical systems. Since December 2020, CGCYBER rapidly developed resources, capabilities and partnerships to protect the marine environment from increasing cyberthreats.
Coast Guard cyber-protection teams (CPTs) and the Maritime Cyber Readiness Branch (MCRB) identified these findings through technical engagements conducted with marine environment partners throughout 2022.
“As U.S. Coast Guard missions expand into the cyberspace domain and across the global maritime commons, CGCYBER remains strategically postured to protect maritime critical infrastructure from advanced cyberthreat actors,” said Rear Adm. Jay Vann, commander, Coast Guard Cyber Command.
Four key takeaways from the report:
• Many of the same findings/recommendations discussed in the 2021 report were observed again in 2022.
• Emerging technologies create new attack paths into the marine environment.
• Opportunistic cybercriminals and advanced persistent threats (APTs) continue to target the marine environment.
• Timely information sharing is the most effective way to increase defenses against adversaries.
Detailed summaries and mitigation measures can be found in the report. These measures support a variety of operational areas and technologies. The full report contains insights into cybersecurity incidents; common findings and mitigation measures; CPT missions; emerging technologies; and threat actor profiles.
The report can be found here.
– National Maritime Center
