Launch of New International Maritime Cyber Security Organisation

A new body dedicated to raising the standards of cyber security across the maritime industry has launched. The International Maritime Cyber Security Organisation (IMCSO) will operate as a not-for-profit organisation and will manage a number of workstreams. 

Among the tasks of the IMCSO will be managing and regulating a list of approved cyber security consultants, the management of a database of vessel cyber risk assessments, and the management of a certification scheme for security consultants.

The IMCSO describes its overall remit as raising ‘the standard of cyber security risk assessment across the shipping industry’. 

The establishment of the IMCSO comes at a time when the maritime industry is increasingly being penetrated by digital technologies. Take the Port of Singapore, for example, which is trialling the use of ‘digital ship identities’. Or the UK Government, which has pledged £8m to support AI-based maritime projects. 

These projects have the potential to unleash significant innovation and efficiency gains - but, they could also potentially create new vulnerabilities that could be exploited. 

The new organisation’s chief executive, Campbell Murray, aims to help shipping companies avoid these vulnerabilities by allowing them to ‘select security audit personnel and know they will get audits that satisfy their own needs and those of their stakeholders, including insurance companies’. 

Murray goes on to explain that: 

“Cybersecurity has been mandated by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which requires shipping companies to implement measures to protect their onboard safety management systems and to regularly audit them”.

He further goes on to explain that: 

“Ship’s captains often do not have the time to escort cyber auditors for these assessments, this is compounded by a variety of assessment methodologies used to provide risk and technical audit results to port authorities and insurers, leading to needless complexity, overheads and delays. It’s these issues that the IMCSO aims to address, by equipping the security industry to conduct these tests in an appropriate, safe and uniform manner, thus enabling the sector to benchmark compliance”.

The IMCSO states that it will offer its certification scheme across four disciplines. Cyber consultants who take the examination can qualify as an Offensive Security Practitioner, a Maritime Cyber Security Specialist, or qualify in Secure by Design, or Cloud Security. 

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