BW Group has been targeted by computer hackers, the Singapore-based shipowner has confirmed to TradeWinds.
“We had an unauthorized access and actions have been taken to rectify the matter,” a BW Group spokesperson confirmed to TradeWinds.
“Internal and external communications to customers and stakeholders were not impacted and it was business as usual with some inconveniences as we worked around planned system downtimes as our IT department, with assistance of external consultants, reinforced our cybersecurity infrastructure.”
The incident is said to have taken place in July, just one month after the ransomware attack on Danish shipping giant AP Moller Maersk.
However, the BW spokesperson said the cyber-attack on the company’s computer systems was not ransomware.
The spokesperson did not divulge information on any financial or data loss due to the unauthorized external access, or whether the culprits had been identified or traced.
“The active directory and GPO systems were affected and the problem was serious enough for Internet and Intranet systems to be closed down temporarily,” a sources familiar with the matter told Platts, who first broke the story.
Sources quoted by the wire agency said that an audit of BW’s computer systems was conducted by KPMG, which undertook forensics pertaining to the entire incident.
A report earlier this year by Norton Rose Fulbright said that more cyber-attacks are anticipated as shipping sets its sights on increased digitalization.
Meanwhile, an anonymous cyber-crime reporting site for the maritime industry is set to go live this month in a tie-up between Airbus and the CSO Alliance.
The European aircraft manufacturer will run the site, which has been developed by the alliance for company shipping security officers.
The portal will provide alliance members with cyber-security information, news of incidents and advice on how to handle them, plus live data.
