ARITIME CYBERSECURITY
MARITIME CYBERSECURITY By James Merten, Port Recovery Specialist, USCG Sector Columbia River Since the arrival of the internet and increased digital transformation initiated in recent years, the notion of cybersecurity has become a familiar subject both in our professional and personal lives. This article will discuss some of the issues the entire maritime industry faces as well as some that we face here, locally. Cybersecurity and cyber threats have been constant for the last 50 plus years of technological advancement. In the 1970s and 1980s, computer security was mainly limited to academia until the launch of the Internet.
Increased connectivity gave computer viruses and network intrusions the space to begin to increase in quantity and severity. After the spread of viruses in the 1990s, the 2000s marked the institutionalization of cyber threats and cybersecurity. Finally, from the 2010s, largescale attacks and government regulations started emerging. The maritime cybersecurity field is becoming increasingly significant due to the continuously expanding reliance on shipboard computer systems, the Internet and wireless network
Figure 1. Types of systems in the MTS that are at risk. 4
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