Cranes rest while waiting for ships to dock to unload cargo containers at the Port of Los Angeles on March 14, 2024.
Genaro Molina | Los Angeles Times | beautiful images
A top Biden cybersecurity official urged the nation's ports in a joint call Wednesday to encrypt their data, quickly patch any vulnerabilities in critical systems and has a highly trained cyber team as hacks targeting US critical infrastructure increase.
Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technologies, cited President Biden signing an executive order in February to Strengthen the cybersecurity of U.S. ports. The nation's port system is the primary point of entry for trade, employing 31 million people and generating more than $5.4 trillion for the U.S. economy.
“More needs to be done on ports and supply chains,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, who has fought for years for a strong federal cybersecurity plan. “The executive order has advanced the discussion.”
The first seaport in the United States to establish a Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) in 2014, the Port of Los Angeles, according to Seroka, faced the highest recorded number of cyber attacks against a port in 2014. 2023, with CSOC blocking 750 cyber intrusion attempts.
in one report in 2023The Department of Maritime Transportation warns that U.S. ports are vulnerable to cyberattacks due to the multiple parties involved in port operations, with risks identified related to facility access, headquarters terminal, operational technology systems such as communication and cargo handling systems. equipment, positioning, navigation and timing services, which will impact ship movements and the complex logistics systems at port facilities as well as the sharing of network connections and storage devices USB between ships and ports, along with other technologies.
Neuberger, who advises Biden on cybersecurity, digital innovation and emerging technologies, noted that the executive order gave the Coast Guard the ability to respond to attacks, establish Mandatory reporting of cyber threats and rejection of vessels that may endanger national security.
One of the main areas of concern for the Biden administration and executive order is the security of Chinese-made cranes. Via 80% of total cranes operates at ports in the United States manufactured in China and some software used to operate those cranes installed in China, which could compromise the cranes' security, creating concerns about “Trojan horses” to spy on or control remote ports .
Neuberger noted that ports could tap into funding from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed in 2021 to support the construction of U.S. shipping cranes by a subsidiary in the United States by the Japanese industrial company Mitsui.
State-linked hackers attack real US operations
Foreign hackers are increasingly targeting US infrastructure across critical services, from transportation to food delivery and health care. In February, FBI warns Congress that Chinese hackers have penetrated deep into US cyber infrastructure in an attempt to cause damage. FBI Director Christopher Wray said Chinese government hackers are targeting water treatment plans, power grids, transportation systems and other critical infrastructure in the US.
On Wednesday, Google's cybersecurity company Mandiant released it a report includes analysis of a Russian-linked hacking group and the January attack on a water filtration plant in the small Texas town of Muleshoe, where a water tank overflowed due to a cyber intrusion.
“This town may be small, but it is located in an arid area of Texas and near Cannon AFB in Clovis, New Mexico,” said Adam Isles, head of Chertoff Group's cybersecurity practice. relate to.”
In November last year, US officials said Iran is behind a cyber attack at the Pennsylvania water plant. Biden administration officials recently warns the nation's governors about threats to water systems. “Water is one of the least mature places in terms of security,” Isles said.
The American Association of Port Authorities, which lobbies on behalf of the nation's major container ports, has previously said that there is There is no evidence to support the remote control claims about Chinese-made crane cyber vulnerabilities, describing the comments as “sensational”.
When asked for an update on the evaluation of more than 200 cranes, Neuberger referred CNBC to the Coast Guard. In an email to CNBC, a Coast Guard spokesperson said that as of a few weeks ago, 92 of the more than 200 cranes made in China had been evaluated.
Public comment on the executive order rulemaking began on February 21 and will close on April 22.
Isles said it is important to identify critical business and safety systems at the nation's ports.
“We cannot protect everything so we have to identify high-value assets at the port,” he said. “You need to determine what is the center of gravity in a port's operations or what is the center of gravity for a competitor.”
Once assets are identified, Isles says, you need to continuously diagnose operations and networks to test their health. “We need to assume that these systems will be compromised at some point and need to address not only minimum operational capacity but also resilience and survivability,” he said. It. This helps achieve attack-informed defense in cyber security.” Equally important, Isles emphasized, is deterrence. “There needs to be accountability for those who commit crimes.”
The tenth anniversary of the founding of the Port of Los Angeles CSCO is in September. CSOC now monitors the port's technological environment to prevent and detect cyber incidents and became the first port to achieve ISO 27001 Information security management certificate in 2015.
Activity at the Port of Los Angeles is on the rise, with first-quarter operating results and March 2023 container operations released on Wednesday, showing a 19% improvement in container volumes and eight periods of cargo growth. consecutive months.
