The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity provides port operators with a set of good practices to help them identify and evaluate cyber risks, and effectively identify suitable security measures.
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) released cybersecurity guidelines to help European port operators manage cyber risks amid digital transformation and increased regulations. ENISA’s new Guidelines - Cyber Risk Management for Ports was drafted in collaboration with several ports in EU Member States. The publication builds on ENISA’s 2019 Port Cybersecurity Report by providing actionable practices that speak to the current cybersecurity threats and changing digital landscape faced by Europe’s maritime sector.
EU Agency for Cybersecurity Executive Director Juhan Lepassaar stated: “The maritime sector plays a pivotal role in the global supply chain. Advancing digital technologies bring economic benefits to ports, but also introduce new cyber threats. The report provides guidelines and good practices to support them in effectively conducting this cyber risk assessment, which is where many of these operators face challenges.”
The interconnected nature of ports requires operators to achieve and maintain a baseline level of cybersecurity to ensure security across the port ecosystem. The report notes that the EU maritime sector has a fragmented approach to assessing cyber risks.
The report encourages port operators to develop a set of good practices in a means to develop this baseline level of cybersecurity. Practices include to:
- Identify cyber-related assets and services in a systematic way that includes maintaining an asset inventory, identifying dependencies and deploying automation;
- Adopt a comprehensive approach for identifying and evaluating cyber risks that includes CTI, risk indicators and business impact analysis, involves all relevant stakeholders and is integrated at an organisational level;
- Prioritise the implementation of security measures following a risk-based approach that considers security measure effectiveness and pertinence to the identified risks, and is founded in a security-by-design approach;
- Implement organisation-wide cybersecurity awareness and technical training programmes;
- Develop a comprehensive cybersecurity programme that involves a commitment by senior management;
- Conduct a cybersecurity maturity self-assessment to identify priorities for improvement, and budget and resource allocation.
Background
The NIS Directive classifies several categories of port operators as Operators of Essential Services (OES), including port authorities and terminal operators. Cyber risk assessments are among the NIS Directive requirements for these OES. The International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code concerns port facilities / terminal operators and provides a framework for conducting security risk assessment, albeit not necessarily specific to cyber risks. The ISPS code is implemented in the EU by Regulation 725/2004; while EU Directive 2005/65 on enhancing port security introduces similar requirements and extends them to ports.
The EU Agency for Cybersecurity supports cybersecurity in Europe’s maritime sector by providing recommendations, supporting the development of regulations, facilitating information exchange and organising awareness-raising events. In 2019, the Agency published its Port Cybersecurity Report with a set of cybersecurity good practices for the maritime sector, and organised two maritime security workshops with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).
The Agency is currently developing an online tool for cyber risk management for port operators, and will continue its work with EU bodies, such as the EMSA, and Member States to strengthen cybersecurity for the sector.
